The Tragedy Called Agent Tennessee
by panda8785
Summary: Rated T for blood and language probably not suitable for younger readers. Jessie McGuire, a young girl, has been assigned to Agent Tennessee in Project Freelancer. Forced to live through tragedy after tragedy, her suffrage must eventually stop, right? Read and Review!
1. Teaser

Hello. Many of you probably know me as Agent Tennessee, a Freelancer. I am fifteen years old. Yeah, seems a little young, huh. You know what, maybe I should start from the very beginning of the tragedy known as my life.

"Jessie." My loving mother smiled, hovering her hand over my head as she set my down in front of a tall building, "Now, sweetie, I want you to wait right here. Mommy will come back, alrighty?"

"Kay." I let out an adorable cheer as I sat in front of the tall door. I clung tightly to the strap of my red backpack with one hand and waved with the other. However long I waited, I don't know, but eventually a lady in black and white stepped out of the gargantuan door and brought me inside. I knew my mother would come for me, but I went inside. It was dark outside. Looking back at it now, I was such an ignorance, for she had dropped me off at the orphanage.

"Hello, little one." The lady kneeled down, trying to comfort me, "What's your name."

"My papa told me not to talk to strangers." I whimpered, remembering that my father hadn't returned home since he left last week.

"You're safe here, little one." She smiles, nicely. Her smile somehow calmed me.

"I'm Jessie McGuire." Yes, I have the same name as an attorney in a movie.

"Ah. That's a beautiful name. And how old are you?"

"Um." I looked at my hand, counted my fingers, then held them up, "I'm five!" I cheered.

"Very good." She stroked my short, auburn hair, "You're one smart cookie, huh?"

"Uh... thank you." I wobbled towards a standing position. I was shown to a room with many beds and children, where I thought I was only spending the night.

* * *

I spent all my days eating, looking out the window for my mother, and accidentally falling asleep for the next year. When I was out of that room, I'd get in trouble for various things. Be it saying that my mother doesn't believe in God or strangling another kid for stealing my meal. I didn't really care much for the other children. I refused to admit it, but after that year I subconsciously knew that I had been abandoned. Because I couldn't admit this to myself, I came to the conclusion that if I were stronger, she would come back. I developed trust issues, depression, traumatic stress, and maybe other issues I probably shouldn't have had to deal with at age six. I'd pretty much cry myself to sleep for every night I stayed there. I was scared. Everything was total crud until I became ten years old.

"Thank you Lord for our food. Bless it to our bodies and us to your service." I prayed before looking down at my plate. I ate slowly, but I ate none the less. My eyes wandered as I watched a visitor. I figured it was just another adoptive parent ready to take another child out of this hell. He walked with Sister Teresa, practically smiling. What caught me off guard was that he had a vertical scar across the left side of his mouth. Did the church make a thorough investigation on this guy's record?

"Mister." I watched a boy trying to be cute, "How are you today?"

"Why I'm alright, I guess." The man smiled. He seemed strangely familiar. Where had I seen him from? One of my magazines, perhaps. I was a shut in anyways.

I watched as the older boy next to me tried to steal my biscuit, "Don't you even think about it Georgie." I sighed, "You know how mad Sister Teresa gets when I react while we have guests."

"Yeah, but that will be on you." He picked up the doughy consumable and took a bit out of it.

I took in a deep inhale, trying not to react, "You little but head!" I lashed out, strangling his stomach with my legs.

"I'm sorry, Jess! I'm sorry!" He squealed as I was pried off of him.

Sister Teresa walked up to me and slapped me on my hand, "What have I told you about behaving like that." She hissed, "Why don't you act like a good girl."

I stood up, as if at attention on the battlefield, anger apparent in my face, "I'm sorry, Sister Teresa."

"I don't want a sorry, Ms. McGuire. I just want to know why." She looked down on me, as if I were a roach deserving to be squashed, but no matter how hard I'm stepped on, I just spring back to life.

"If everyone were to walk all over me and steal my food, then I starve. If I starve, then I'll die. I fight back so that I don't die." I put on a brave face, when inside I was truly scared.

"Um, Miss Teresa?" The man called for Sister Teresa as she walked back over to him.

I watched mouths move as I was pointed at. All I could make out of the mess was a simple, "You don't happen to have any other children, right? She's pretty aggressive." From the sister then a, "It's alright. She'll be in an environment best suited for her," from the man. After that, I was dragged into a room I had actually never seen before within all the years I had spent here. It had only been me, the man, and one of the Nuns. I didn't really pay much attention to the whole conversation, but I figured that this was a new punishment for me.

"She's all yours." The nun spoke up, "It's great that we won't have as many kids in the infirmary, now."

"Every child is special." The man smiled, "Some just don't give up on themselves, no matter how many times they've been broken." He stood up, "Thank you. It was nice doing business with you." He saluted. Do regular adults even salute? He walked out the door and I watched, "Aren't you coming?" He looked at me. Does this mean I'm free?

"My... mother..." I trailed off.

"Is not coming back." The nun kneeled in front of me, "Go with him. Now starts the rest of your life." I did as I was told, first running up to the room that I was never going to see again, grabbing my stuff and shoving it into my backpack. I ran down stairs to see the man I was supposed to leave with waiting by the door.

"Wow. You're an energetic one." He laughed.

"Well, I haven't really gone outside in about five years, so this should be fun!" I cheered.

"Alright." He stepped out the door and I followed. I closed the door behind me.

"What should I refer to you as?" I looked up at him.

"What should I call you?" I repeated myself, "You have to have a name you would be comfortable with being referred to as." He kinda stared at me for a minute, "I'm sorry. I guess I'm using big words again. The other kids have always said no one likes a brainiac." I playfully hit myself in the back of the head.

"Oh? It's all fine. You can refer to me as Agent Alaska... or just simply Alaska." He smiled again. It was then that I realized where I had seen him before. The magazines that I do get are mostly about the Freelancers. In all my hopes and dreams, I had finally met one of my heroes.


	2. Project Freelancer

"Are you sure she's eligible?"

"Yeah. She's a bit... erm... short."

"Forget short, man. She's fucking young." I watched as two man and a woman looked down on me.

"Please watch your language." Alaska spoke up, "She's still ten."

"I don't know if you're head is screwed on properly, Alaska." The woman sighed, removing her helmet.

"Didn't Vermont say something about how children are the future?" Alaska joked.

"I'm sure he meant that in a different way." One of the men spoke up as they too took off their helmets. To my surprise, they looked practically identical with dirty blonde hair and deep blue eyes.

"Are you part of the Aryan race?" I murmured, cowering behind Alaska.

One of the men kneeled to eye level with me, "Now how are you even able to learn about a tragedy like that when you're in a place that teaches you about nothing but God and pacifism?" He laughed

"I knew a guy who also used to smuggle in the PlayBoy magazine for the older boys. He helped me get some magazines and textbooks while he was out. It didn't help that I stayed in the same room for most of the day at that God forsaken place."

"I wouldn't call it 'God forsaken.'" Alaska scowled at me for just a moment, "I think a place like that would be considered the exact opposite... And which magazines did you read if that boy was passing out PlayBoy?"

I pulled a wrinkled pile of paper out of my backpack, revealing a magazine with stuff about Freelancers, "This right here."

"I didn't know we had a magazine." The woman was shocked.

"Yeah, Cousin. I though all our stuff was top secret." The man who had still been standing spoke up.

"It's mostly comics portraying how awesome we are." Alaska chuckled, "Not anything that we hadn't previously released into the public. If there were a leak, then we would've had some issues to deal with."

"Quit groveling, Mexico." The woman pulled the man by his short hair, forcing him to stand up, "There's no reason to make her anymore scared. You could at least introduce yourself."

"Can you go first, Cuz?" He was shaken.

"It really doesn't matter." She kneeled down, but didn't stand as close to me as this 'Mexico' guy, "You may refer to me as Agent West Virginia or W.V. Which ever floats your boat. These two dumb a- I mean numbskulls behind me are Arizona and New Mexico. Please don't let them be your influences." She smiled a dull, but disheartening smile that sent divers down my spine, then stood up.

"Alright. Thanks for introducing us... I guess." Arizona moved his hand to the back of his neck.

"Hey Bro? Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" New Mexico started laughing, shifting his weight to one foot.

"And what may that be?" He turned toward his brother.

"I wanna see what spunk this girly has. Do you think they'll let her use the training room for evaluation."

"Probably. My fear is that she probably doesn't have and skills in hand to hand or weaponry."

"Hand to hand, probably. Weaponry, hell no. She was raised in an orphanage not a military base like us"

"Of course, though, you're not planning on putting her in a room with actual people, right."

"Fuck no."

"You better not be planning on turrets either." Alaska intervened.

"Do you think we'll leave a little girl alone in a room with X amount of turrets?" They practically said in sync.

"It's hard to tell with your crack-pot schemes, anyway." W.V. laughed.

* * *

I was left in a room with probably a bakers dozen of testing dummies. Not even Alaska stayed behind with me. What made me even more afraid was that I found however many people were in an observation room watching me. Probably waiting for me to screw up again.

"Round begin." A feminine, metallic voice echoed through the room. I clenched my hands. I was afraid of getting in trouble, but this wasn't like the orphanage, right? They encourage people to defend themselves, right?

I took a deep inhale and a slow exhale, realizing my muscles and forgetting about the observers. I lunged forward and delivered a punch to the first target. It somehow fell off it's scrawny post. I was afraid of getting scolded at, but at the same time, it felt great. I was finally free. I did a few kicks, spinning exercises, and probably whatever else you could think of in regards to attacking. _I'm finally free! _I ran through my head over and over again until the last dummy fell.

"Round over in fifty five seconds." The voice went off again. I heard cheering. It was then that I remembered I had an audience. I would've fainted from fear if I hadn't been relieved. I had almost forgotten what a congratulatory cheer sounded like, "Name saved." The voice spoke once more, "Welcome, Agent Tennessee."

"I-I'm actually... in?" I let out an exasperated sigh. I couldn't believe it.


	3. It

After my successful testing, I was fitted into some armor. So many people were surprised that I barely made it into the smallest size. I didn't know that I was around four foot nine until now. It's kinda funny. That just means I'm taller than my age group. I trained for probably a year until I qualified for... that. I never liked it, but I was forced to put up with it.

* * *

I was eating lunch one time with Alaska. I had turned eleven years old about a month and had been fitted for a new set of armor. I was now five foot nothing. My growth was just too slow because I put so much stress on myself when I was younger. It just seemed like I had a growth spurt and then slowed down. I honestly don't care. I've been too tired of just training training training. I wanted to be where the action is.

"Agent Tennesse?" A man from behind me spoke.

I turned around to see a familiar face, "Yes, Counselor?"

"Will you please follow me?" He motioned for me. I did as I was told, but a little hesitantly. We reached an empty corridor, "How would you like to be implanted with an AI fragment?" He spoke again.

"AI fragment?" I repeated him in a questioning tone.

"An AI is something that enhances your armor ability. Like how Alaska's armor takes over if he's unconscious."

"Does Alaska have an AI?"

"Unfortunately, no. He doesn't get to use his armor ability often, anyways." He let out a bit of a wry smile, "No one else has the AI. We only have one, and we've been waiting to give it to the right person."

"And... you think I'm... qualified?"

"Yes. The AI fragment that we do have; his name is Zeta."

"Like the greek Zeta? Doesn't that mean born last or something?"

"Very good, but the name Zeta was originally assigned to his as from the greek alphabet."

"That too." I pondered on the thought.

"So, do you accept?"

"Huh?"

"Do you or do you not want to take in Zeta?"

I thought about it for a good length, "Sure. I'll take him in."

* * *

Oh how I regretted taking in that AI. I screamed so much from the pain that they had to put me under. I remember finally gaining consciousness, but my vision was still black. Sleep paralysis, maybe.

"It seems like she's awake." A voice echoed. It was hazy, and nearly impossible to recognize. I finally was able to open my eyes to see a foggy figure standing in front of me. I wobbled to and upright position, flinching as pain shot through my neck, but overcoming it.

"Hey there, Champ." A male voice echoed. I didn't know who it was. My vision slowly got more clear. I saw Alaska and... Michigan sitting by a bed I had been lying in.

"W-where am I?" I tried to remember what had happened.

"You're in the infirmary." Alaska laughed at me.

"That was brave of you to take in that AI there." Michigan sighed. I guess he'd been working for Zeta, but he seemed to have a strange smirk across his face, "You know, before they stopped the AI project, South Dakota was suppose to get Zeta."

"And then they stopped it because Washington had a bad reaction to Epsilon, right?" I recalled previous data.

"I see you've been studying." Alaska smiled.

I slid my legs to the side of the bed and stood up, fumbling along the way, "How long had I been out?"

"A few days." Michigan sighed.

"Well then, I guess I should be getting back to training." I laughed, taking a few steps towards the door, trying to get blood flowing through my practically asleep legs.

"I would not suggest that." An unfamiliar voice spoke up out of the blue.

"Um, pardon?" I turned around to face the guys.

"We didn't say anything." Alaska laughed.

"Yeah. It's probably your AI." Michigan, too, couldn't contain his laughter.

"Affirmative." A little transparent black and white thing appeared in front of me, causing me to yelp, "My name is Zeta. You must be Agent Tennessee. It's a pleasure to be of assistance to you."

"Uh.. um... hello." I croaked. I didn't expect an AI to actually be something that talks... or has a mind of it's own.

"I'm sorry." He spoke again, "Have I frightened you? That was not my intention."

"N-n-no. It's just that I... um... have a bit of trust issues. I just flinch whenever I'm near something or someone I'm not used to." I admitted, still having a bit of shakiness in my voice.

"Well then, how about you just think of me as a... long lost friend?" He responded in a calm manner.

"Uh... maybe."

"Well then, Champ," Alaska stood up, "You're stuck with Zeta for a while, so be sure you don't neglect him."

* * *

I was sent into a training room but a few days later. Zeta would often come online out of free will, and I barely ever had the courage to talk to him. I feel like I should get along with him somehow. I am stuck with him for quite a while, right?

"Round one; Tennessee vs. Wisconsin, Maryland, and Arkansas." The computer lady spoke up. I admit it now that I haven't even fought against another human being since I got onto this base. I was a little scared.

"Would you like some assistance?" Zeta came online again.

"I'm good, Zeta." I sighed.

"Well then maybe you don't need to know that your armor ability is illusion." He responded in a cocky manner.

"Round begin." The voice reverberated through my head, nearly cementing me to the ground. The three started to charge at me.

"You need to move you know." Zeta laughed.

"I know what I'm doing." My voice shook as I rolled away from a blow to the head. I guess these guys aren't fooling around.

"I can help. All you're doing is avoiding blows." He sighed, finding me hopeless.

"I got this."

"I can amplify you're illusions. I can make it so that specific people can hear a sound you make louder than it should be."

"Like if I were to scream?"

"Yeah. Depending on the person, you can knock them unconscious."

I pondered on the thought while dodging a few blows, "How do I use this 'illusion' thing you talk about?"

"You can make the tips of your fingers florescent red. For those who look at the light, they can be put into an illusion of your thoughts. You would have to focus, though."

"In this illusion, Oof." I was forced to the ground, but rolled away from the next attack in almost an instant, "Can I make them feel pain?"

"It'd be dumb if you couldn't. Just try it out."

I started running in circles around the enemy, doing as I was told would work, making it so that it would seem like there's multiples of me, also being sure to eliminate myself. I watched as all of them scattered to get one of my illusions, "That'll actually come in hand one day."

"The ability was originally made to capture and interrogate the enemy."

"For once..." I paused, knowing that I'd eventually regret what I was about to say, "I have to thank you."

"Well, you're very welcome. We make a great team, huh?" Already regretted.

"Don't get too cocky about it. We're not done." I tried messing with the illusion for a bit, from thousands of needles coming out of the walls to fire erupting from the ground.

"Round over. Point Tennessee." The voice went off again. I hadn't noticed that they were all on their knees, pathetic looking. They could be finished with one fell swing. I could crush them like a bug and make them suffer for coming after me... and I hated myself for thinking that. These were my teammates. They only came after me to help me.

My focus shifted from pain to a different kind of suffrage; sorrow. Memories of my mother came to mind and flooded through my head. Not noticing that I didn't take the opponent out of this "illusion" that I put them under, they were forced to see things in my mind that I hadn't even told anyone. Memories of my father yelling and throwing a vase at a nearby wall, causing the debris of what was once beautiful to something painful to me and the mother of mine who had been carrying me. He stormed out the door that he had never returned to. Memories on my mother's abandonment came up as I waited at the porch of that orphanage. Memories I've tried to suppress cause a mental breakdown. I remembered about my opponents still in the locked illusion and I managed to release them before I started screaming of fear. Fear that I may end up back in that orphanage. Fear that my freedom is an illusion itself. Fear that my mother probably would've simply killed me if it weren't for the place I saw as hell.

"Agent Tennessee." I heard Zeta, "You need to calm down."

"How can I calm down?" I scoffed, "If I hadn't met you, I probably wouldn't have been forced to remember what I tried to forget!"


	4. Regret

For two more years, I had been pulling Zeta. I depended on myself and shut out anyone else. I created a wall where I was on one side, and everyone else I knew was on the other. I didn't fit in for the time I joined their side of the wall. My training consisted mostly of weapons, but at least half an hour a day would I work on a little hand to hand combat. I was getting better. I used a hologram deck, or something of the like, to help me get used to actually killing people. I couldn't rely solely on illusions, anyway. The training sooner became to little. Eventually, I needed better stimuli.

* * *

"Hey, Jessy?" Alaska confronted me as I was eating a sandwich I had prepared for myself.

"I'll ask you again to call me Tennessee. That's the only name I have that wasn't given to me by my parents." I sighed, taking another bite of the food.

"My apologies." He sat next to me, "You should stop pulling Zeta."

"Why should I?" I set my meal down on a plate and reached for a cup of water, "He keeps me awake at night, he doesn't stop talking about how we should manage to be a team, and he's probably going to fuck me over."

"Now, I didn't teach you to use language like that. Where did you hear it from?"

"I'm thirteen. It's not like you can prevent me from learning them." I downed the glass of water, letting the cold sensation crawl down my throat, "And you aren't my father. You can't prevent me from saying them."

"Legally I am your father."

"Yeah, but not biologically."

"It's sounds like you're trying to create your own barrier."

"I don't want to feel for people anymore. If I get too attached, then they'll end up abandoning me."

"That's funny to think about when you were just allowed to join us on a mission," he stood up, "but if you don't want human contact, then maybe you shouldn't join us."

"What's the mission?"

"Ah? So you are interested."

"I haven't had a mission for the three or so years I've been here. Of course I'm interested."

"Infiltration. We're after an artifact. We're allowed to kill as many as necessary."

"Sounds like my kind of game." I giggled, "When do we start?"

"Tomorrow morning." He started to walk away, "four a.m. is when we leave, meet us at three thirty."

"You know I'll be up at two, right?" I laughed, "I'll get ready in the morning."

* * *

Morning had come. I jogged down the corridors to get my blood pumping through me veins. I stopped at the locker rooms where I had left my armor and weapons.

"Ah, good morning, Ms. Tennessee." Michigan greeted me as he pulled his armor out of his locker.

"Morning, Agent Michigan." I bluntly responded as I fumbled around the pad lock.

"Are you going to be joining us on the mission this morning? Or are you here for regular routine?"

"You're going on the mission too?" A laughed a little, "I guess it's a bit of a small world. And here I thought you were just getting ready for regular training."

"Well, I thought you were just here to try to grow a few inches."

"Just because I stopped growing doesn't mean I can't whoop your ass. Remember that I'm still five and a half feet of hell." Silence grew in the room. Silence is such a silly thing that I thought I only had when I was sleeping. Silence had become my new bliss.

"Do you mind if I ask you something?" Michigan spoke up, breaking my bliss.

"No, I do not mind." I sighed as I slid into my brown armor with pink highlights.

"Why did you stay in Project Freelancer, if you could just walk away anytime?"

I had to actually think about this. It was actually a good question, "Because I sold my life long ago."

"Then why'd you have to give your life to someone else? You just want them to run it for you?"

"I gave my life up for my mother, and for some reason I am unable to force myself off that path."

"Is that it?"

Is that it? Is there more? "Well, maybe I've made up lies to fight the truth."

"Perhaps." He sat there staring at me for a moment, "You may want to have Zeta active while we're on this mission."

"I don't need Zeta." I put on my helmet.

"Oh, you may, but it's not my place to judge." He sighed, "I was after getting Zeta long before you came. If I had ahold of him, I wouldn't have been pulling him for years straight."

"You'd do the same. He doesn't stop talking... and he would keep you awake."

"I just know that Zeta probably would've been better off with someone else, but they chose you. They wouldn't have just handed it off to someone random without knowing that it would help you."

"Listen, if I ever need him on the mission, then I'll use him. Otherwise, I'll keep ignoring him."

"Wait. So you aren't pulling him?"

"I don't know how. I just yell at him whenever he came online and he just eventually stopped."

"That's probably worse than pulling him. You probably put him in a depression. That would explain why none of us had seen him in a while."

"I'll do as I please."

"You're so stubborn." He made his way toward the doorway out, "But suite yourself. If you're life gets in danger, then it's all on you."

* * *

The mission has started. There were probably just half a dozen of us. We were split into groups of two so that it would be easier to find this artifact we're looking for. God knows where it is by now, but it's supposed to look like some kind of sphere thingy. I was the unlucky one. I was paired with Michigan. Yes, Michigan. The very same guy who probably would throw me in front of a gunfire. Me jumped out of the pelican, jet packs handy. Almost immediately, Michigan and I were attacked. We were the unlucky group that started at the base of the building. The rest were at the top. We had to kill them all without alarming anything, meaning no gunfire, no illusions, no nothing except for aiming for quick deaths. I managed to get a few guys unconscious and then come back for them with my blade to finish the job.

"You seem to have no hesitation with this." Mich laughed at me.

"Be quiet. You may alarm someone." I stared him down.

"Fine. Just go up the stairs."

"I know what to do."

"Just admit that's you'd be dead if I weren't here."

"Never." We ran up the stairs. After probably half an hour of avoiding alarms, we had finally found a room of stockpiled stuff. It seemed like a vault.

"Doesn't this seem familiar?"

"This is the same place that the agents came to get something they called a 'sarcophagus.' No wonder it seems familiar." I just walked around, not letting my guard down until I found a beautiful piece. It was an old Freelancer's armor.

"Isn't that the Meta's?"

"Seems like it." I examined every detail, "If it does have pretty much all the previous Freelancers' armor abilities, do you think we could harvest them?"

"If that's possible, then you can have them." He snorted.

"And why me?"

"Because, without your AI you're practically nothing, but you refuse to use him. The extra armor abilities may allow you to go up a level on the leader board."

"You'd do the same."

"No I wouldn't." Right then, I heard something like a _click_. I turned around to see something exactly like what happened with Agents Carolina and Washington (season 9 episode 15) with the flame thrower guy, "Well, this must be your day of karma. Maybe you should use Zeta." He pulled out a gun and started shooting, but the opponent just seemed to brush it off and fired (Pun not intended) his weapon.

Run, jump, dodge, shoot, lather, rinse, repeat. It was just endless. We couldn't hit him and we tried to save our own lives as well.

"We have to try to get closer in order for out attacks to do anything successful!" Michigan yelled at me.

"No shit, really?!" I yelled back.

"You know, if you want friends, you could stop being so much of a bitch!"

"Can we talk about this later?!"

"Use Zeta!"

"I can do this without him."

"Give the damn AI a chance before you go out yelling that you don't need him!" About five minutes went by and no progress had been made. The only thing that had changed within the entire fight was the amount of energy we were able to hold on to. We needed to finish this soon, or we'd end up dying a scorching death.

"We found the artifact." Someone said on the intercom.

"We're kinda busy!" I yelled into my headset.

"There's no reason to yell in your mic, Agent Tennessee. State you're coordinates."

"We're in some sort of vault." Michigan responded.

"Which one?" Whomever asked again.

"You know what?" I responded, "We're almost done here. I'm going to turn off my mic for a minute. I'll get right back to you." I took in a deep inhale and a slow exhale, knowing that I'll probably regret this decision, "Zeta? Can you please help?"

"I thought you were too good for me." Zeta came out, "Or is it because you're life is actually endangered that you need my help. I swear, you humans are all the same in my book. I just hoped you'd be different."

"Listen, Zeta. I'll explain my reasons for not really wanting to get close to you later, but now I really need your help."

"You want to use 'Banshee,' don't you?" He turned to face the opponent, "I'll help."

"Thank you." I sighed, gasping for air as I tried to avoid yet another stream of fire.

"Amplified just enough to knock them out. Good luck."

"Thank you." I took in a deep inhale and let out a loud screech. I even hear it at the amplified pitch, but it was my own scream. It can't knock me out, can it? What about Michigan? I stood up to see the opponent on the ground, but Mich was still standing.

"Thank God." Michigan laughed, "I thought you'd still be stubborn about that.

"I'll ask later." I pulled out my knife, "We have to get rid of him. Get the Meta's armor while I deal with this." I walked over to the collapsed body and kneeled down. I took off the helmet to see such a horrific sight.

Karma's just screwing around with me right? For what I saw was something I didn't want to believe, but my own mother had been sitting there. Her eyes opened as she took the knife out of my hand and thrust it into the left side of my stomach I felt the warm blood crawl up my throat, trying to choke me. The smile on her face resembled insanity itself as she pulled my helmet off my head.

"Well, I never would've guessed our paths would cross again like this." She laughed. I heard a click behind me, "Now, if you get any closer yourself, then I'll personally pull this out of her. She'll be covered in her favorite color during her death. Now, wouldn't that be lovely?"

I sputtered with tears streaming down my cheeks and crimson red flooding out the corners of my mouth. My body reacted on its own, quickly pulling out a gun and firing three times in her head. After she was already dead, I began to wail like a baby. The woman I had always wanted to see again, was dead inside my arms.

"Get up." Michigan ordered me, "We have to get you back to the base so that we can get your side treated."

"Get the Meta's armor. I can walk to the roof. It's only a few flights of stairs." I wobbled into a nearly upright position, trying to prevent the blade from simply sliding out."

"There's a window washer to this place right?" Michigan spoke into his headset. I had forgotten that I had turned mine off, but I didn't bother fixing my mistake, "Alright. Can you lower it about five floors so that we can get a lift?... We're not taking the easy way out, Alaska... Tennessee is injured pretty badly... yes, I realize that we're set on time, but it would probably take us an hour to get to the top floor... I can't carry her. She insisted that I take the Meta's armor with us... Thank you, Sir." I watched out the window for our ride, and when it did come, I sat down onto it so that I could examine the wound better, "Don't worry. A doctor may be able to patch that up in almost no time."

I gave off a weak smile as we reached the top. The pelican had been waiting for us and I tried to get on the ship as fast as I could. I remember quietly crying the rest of the ride.


	5. Bed Ridden

I woke up in the infirmary once again but a few days later. I was alone. I had forgotten about the stab wound and everything and assumed that I had been in there upon removal of Zeta. I admit that I cried a bit, realizing that I needed him more than he needed me. I was such a little idiot. I went to sit up, but felt an unbearable pain shoot throughout my entire stomach. Suddenly, I remembered the fire, the screaming, the knife... my mother's face. I started to cry even harder than before.

"You alright there?" I heard a laugh and saw Zeta appear in front of me.

"I'm fine." I whimpered, whipping my tears.

"Fine. I know when I'm not needed." He disappeared.

"Wait a minute, Zeta."

"Oh, so I am needed?" He returned to his ghastly form, "This is honestly a first"

"I... I just need someone to talk to for a bit."

"Oh, so you get to talk whenever, but for two straight year, whenever I want to talk I get yelled at? Now, that's just cold." He crossed his arms.

"I'm sorry." Tears flooded into my eyes, but I tried to prevent them from falling.

"I understand you're living in fear," He moved a little closer, "but what's life if you try to keep things the same? If you try to just push everyone out, you eventually find someone who wants to push back stronger; someone who tries to break the barrier."

"Like you?"

"I could think of others, but yeah... I guess."

"Zeta... I really am sorry." I allowed my tears to stream down my cheeks.

"Hey, it's fine. Don't work yourself up too much. You may bleed out."

"What now? How long have I been out."

"A few days. They said you have something like... um... acute hemophilia. They've been dosing you with Hemochrotisema to help with the clotting, but we still need to watch out."

"Define actue hemophilia."

"Your blood still clots, but very very slowly. I didn't think it was possible until now." He laughed.

"But I always got scrapes and cuts and didn't bleed out."

"And it took and hour or so before it barely started to scab over, right? I've been monitoring you, you know. And a scrap is nothing compared to a two and a half to three inch stab wound. You're lucky that the doctors here are good, but I'm sure they're going to make sure you take daily doses of the Hemochrotisema... or at least take it before missions since you could die from blood clots... unless that's only for fat people... I don't know all that much about you humans, actually." I started to laugh at his constant babbling, "Do I amuse you?" He laughed with me.

"I'm sorry." I continued laughing. I just couldn't hold you back.

"You know, I don't think I've ever heard you genuinely laugh since we've met."

"Oh, really?" I looked down at my hands, "I wonder why."

"That is a good question." He behaved as if he were sitting on a chair in midair.

"Wait a minute. How come Michigan didn't faint when we used Banshee?"

"You don't know?" He started laughing again, "Ever since I taught you that you could use that, everyone got an implant in their helmet. I can send out wavelengths so that the helmet locks up and doesn't allow sound to enter."

"I guess that makes sense." I looked up at the ceiling, holding one hand above me, and tranced patterns onto the nonexistent parchment. Silence grew in the room.

"You're still a kid." Zeta said out of the blue.

"Yes, I am. I'm a kid until I turn eighteen." I agreed with him.

"No, I mean you still act like a kid. A secluded kid that doesn't want anything to do with others, but a kid nonetheless."

"I guess." I sighed, listening to my stomach moan.

"Do you want to wait and see if Alaska brings a sandwich?"

"..."

"Tennessee?"

"If he still cares. I'll give him an hour."


	6. Assassination Mission Success

It took two months for that sucker to heal. As I expected, it left a scar in a slightly lighter shade across my already white stomach. It was always there. It was always a reminder... that she never cared. After the two months I was put into another mission. This one's supposed to be easier. Assassination. We are to kill the head of some mofia-based cult thingy (I don't have all the details). We were taking two Pelicans, for we needed more troops for examining the area.

"Alright, men." Alaska had been in charge of this mission, "Once we land, we're looking for the leader." He showed a picture of what the objective was, "You may kill a few more, since this is one of those groups where if you kill the commander, another one will come to take their position."

"What exactly was their crime?" I spoke out of turn.

"Have you ever heard of the KKK?" Michigan turned to face me. I couldn't tell wether or not he was being serious for he had his helmet securely on.

"What about them?" I asked seriously.

"That's not these guys." Ding. There goes the punch line. He better how he wakes up tomorrow.

"Just remember the objective." I could tell Alaska was already exhausted, "Kill the leader and anyone who gets in your way. Sync?"

"Sync." Everyone else (on both intercom and face to face), including me, responded.

"Alright. We'll be there momentarily."

Once we got there, everyone spread out. We all followed the objective... except, surprisingly, for Alaska. When I turned a corner, I saw him not at all close to cornered with a kid, just a little older than me, who held a knife. How come Alaska didn't shoot, I didn't know.

"Now, you shouldn't bring a knife to a gun fight." Alaska laughed, "Here." He switched weapons with the kid.

"What the fuck is he trying to do?" I mumbled under my breath, watching the kid just... stand there.

"Do you not know how to shoot?" Is he being suicidal.

"I... I know how to shoot" The boy whimpered.

"Then why aren't you?"

The kid shot straight up into the air, causing me to jump, "Just hide around the corner. The boss will be here in a minute." Alaska ran in my direction.

"What the hell?" I whispered to him as he hid behind me.

"Ah. You saw that, didn't you?" He tried to catch his breath as if he had been terrified the whole time he tried that stunt.

"Yeah, and I repeat, what the hell?"

"He's a few months older than you, incase you couldn't tell by his appearance.

"I don't care how old he is, I just want to know why you pulled a stunt like that."

"He's still a kid. If his heart was still a little bit pure, he wouldn't have shot me. Kids can't easily turn their back on someone who did something kind for them. Think of it as you and Zeta. He helped save your life and now you can't easily tell him to log off."

"What also factors into that is that I had two months of healing. During the times I would usually train, I had nothing but roaming the halls and talking to him."

"And now you're friends." We watched as a man walked up to the boy.

"Hello, sir." The boy became strict.

"Why was their a gunshot over here?" The man responded. Is he... the objective?

"I'm sorry. Did I bother you? I was just doing target practice on that tree over there. I missed, so I figured that the sight was crooked."

"No it's fine. Just what I expect from the man who's going to take my place." Wait a minute. This pathetic boy is second in command of this place?

"Should I shoot the kid down too?" I whispered.

"Our only objective is the adult." Alaska sighed.

"But you also said to kill as many as we like. I'd like to kill two."

"Don't shoot the kid." He growled.

"Fine." I moved my gun so that I could get a good shot. I fired three times, just for good measure.

"Thank you."

"No problem. Now go get your gun back." We stood up.

"Let the kid keep it. I have a safe full of that same type of gun."

"Alright. Let's head back to the Mother of Invention." I turned around to see the boy. He had cold eyes, matted hair, and was covered in dirt. How come he didn't shoot Alaska? Maybe he's in a similar boat as me. Maybe he doesn't want to hurt those who are actually nice to him. Maybe.

"You want me to hold the boy prisoner at least, don't you?" Al laughed at my misery.

"No... He just-"

"Don't go off abandoning me for another man just yet." He joked.

"The only men I need are you and Zeta." I turned around, following my legal guardian.

"Well, that's a relief." He too turned to the boy, "Maybe we should bring him with us."

"Do whatever you want. I'm heading towards the Pelican." I ran to the rondevu point, and entered the Pelican, ready to go back home.


	7. Kaito

It was a regular day of training for me. I've just finished my second successful mission, this time not getting injured, and I was full of energy. Unfortunately, I used up probably way too much energy. By the time lunch came around, I was about ready to collapse, but I kept jogging through the halls. If I were put in a situation in the future where I need energy, but I'm practically on empty, at least I'll be prepared. I stopped in the mess hall and switched from running to slowly walking and panting. First thing was first, I needed food and water. I made myself a roast beef and cheddar sandwich and grabbed one of those huge smart water bottles. I needed it. I sat down alone on a bench and just sat for a minute, trying to catch my breath.

"You alright?" Zeta popped out of nowhere.

"Yeah." I wheezed, "I just work myself a little too hard." I reached for the water and took little sips, savoring the cool feeling in my throat.

"I could have told you that." He laughed at my misery, "You sound like you're on your dying breath."

"I probably am." I sighed, looking up to see Alaska... he was with a boy who looked a little older than me. I did hear that we had a new member by the name of Minnesota, but I never thought it'd be someone else that would be in my age group, "Bow chicka bow wow." I murmured, a wry smile on my face.

"You do know who that is, right?" Zeta had been stifling an outburst of laughter.

"It's the new guy, right? It's not every day that there's a boy of my age group in arms reach."

"Yeah, he's the new guy, but it's the same guy you wanted to kill on the last mission." He couldn't hold it in. It was too much comedy for him to handle.

"N-no way." I felt my face heat up, "That guy had matted up hair and was covered in dirt."

"They cleaned him up... and it seems like they're on their way over here. Be sure to keep your cool."

"Zeta." I watched him disappear with a smug grin on his face.

"Hey there, Champ." Alaska sat down in front of me and the new guy followed.

"Hey, Alaska." I sighed, taking another gulp of water, "And who may this be?" I looked at the boy, as if he were unfamiliar. Perhaps Zeta had just been messing with me.

"You've met him before." I guess Zeta was right, "This is the new Minnesota. If you would like, you could call him by his real name, Kaito. Kaito, this is-"

"Agent Tennessee." I extended my hand, "You can call me Tennessee, and nothing else."

"Can I call you Tenn?" The boy mumbled.

"Um, I don't mind. If it's easier for you to say, go for it."

"Tennessee?" Alaska spoke up, "You seem different than your usual self."

"How so?" I asked.

"How do I put this? You're a bit more... talkative." He pondered on that for a second, "Usually the most you say to anyone new is hi. Sometimes you don't even say that."

"I'm older, now." Why won't I stop talking? Alaska's right. This isn't like me.

"Alright, then." He sighed, "Tennessee, I want you to be in charge of the newbie. Show him around, help him train, things like that."

"How come it took you so long just to find me then. I'm either in my room, training, eating, or on a mission."

"Or the infirmary." Zeta interrupted.

"Yeah. There too."

"I thought you were in a training room, so I had to check them all." Alaska stood up, "I'll be leaving you two. Have fun, but not too much fun."

"Don't even joke around about that." I felt my face heat up... What is wrong with me?... What the fuck is wrong with me?

"Well, Adieu." He walked off. I just simply waved. When I turned to face the new recruit, he had been staring at me, then averted eye contact. For the glimpse of his eye I had seen, they were warm and full of hope, but they were also eyes that understood suffering. They were eyes similar to mine, and I couldn't just give up on him.

"You probably should finish your lunch, Agent Tennessee." Zeta pointed out.

"Yeah, probably." I sighed, taking a bite out of my sandwich. Silence grew between the three of us, "Hey kid. Have you been fitted for armor yet?"

"Um." He took some time as if he couldn't remember, "No, I haven't. Agent Alaska said that would happen within about a week from now."

"Did they at least take a tape measure to you?" I looked up from my meal.

"I think so."

"Then you have been fitted. They just need some time to make it." I took another bite of my sandwich and swallowed, "If you ask me, the armor doesn't seem much different from linen clothes other than the abilities they give off. Knives and gunshots easily get through."

"How do you know?" He seemed a little scared. I felt bad, now.

"I kinda got a scar to prove the armor doesn't really help. I'm sure, in some instances, it provides some protection."

"I'm sorry." He whimpered.

"What are you sorry for." I was confused.

He looked up from the table, "I'm sorry that you got hurt."

"That's sweet?" Yes, I said it a bit like a question, "But you weren't involved."

"And it was Agent Tennessee's fault." Zeta laughed, "It was Karma, huh?"

"Yeah. I already apologized two months ago, Zeta." I took the last bite of my sandwich, and stood up, making sure to take my water bottle with me, "Well, let's get going."

* * *

After leaving my armor in the locker room, for it wouldn't be fair to train with the kid if I were the only one with the advantage, we headed to a vacant training room.

"Alright. I want you to throw a punch at me." I held my hands in front of him. I watched as he tried to revert his eyes from me, "Everything alright?"

"Maybe it's because all you're wearing is a bra and shorts." Zeta said in the back of my head.

"Zeta, it's a sports bra. Women on Earth run down the streets wearing nothing but this."

"You can hear Zeta from all the way over here?" Minnesota murmured.

"Well, yeah. He's kinda implanted in the back of my neck. His thought flood into mine." I sighed, "Just throw a punch." He did so, but weakly, "You're used to weapons, aren't you?" He nodded, "Strange. I was the opposite when I joined this program. I never came into contact with weapons. Still don't like them that much, but they're useful." I noticed he had been eyes the two and a half inch wide scar on my stomach, but chose to ignore it.

"Do you mind if I ask how you got that?" He pointed at my stomach.

"I'm sorry, but I kinda don't like talking about that." I sighed, rubbing my thumb across the softer tissue.

"I'm sorry." This kid is so apologetic.

"It's fine. I get asked about it a lot." I lied. I'm usually ever in my armor, but I have been stopped by one or two agents as I were on my way to the locker room or my bedroom, "Try throwing a few more punches." He did so, each being really weak, "Please tell you you're just not trying to hurt me. I don't think anyone can be unintentionally that weak."

"Umm... I never really had to hurt a girl before." He ducked his head.

"F.I.L.L.I.S?" I sighed.

"Yes, Agent Tennessee?" She hollered back.

"Can you set up one of the training dummies?"

"Which type?"

That was a good question. Which type should we use? We have both wood and metal, "Beta." A metal training dummy rose out of the floor, "Now, throw a punch at that." I sighed, hoping that he's stronger on an inanimate object.

He did as he was told, hitting the training dummy with full force, "Ouch!" He scream, clutching his hand.

"How old are you?" I laughed.

"Fourteen. You?" He sighed.

"Thirteen, and I can easily take you down." I walked over to the dummy to see a huge gash in it, "Well, there goes my little tin man." I moved my fingers across where the metal tore, "That's actually a pretty good job." I jumped up and kicked the dummy's head off, "Can you try to get at least close to that?"

"Probably with practice." He followed the head as it rolled.

"And practice makes perfect. I didn't learn what I know in just one day." I too watched the head as it came to it's stop, "I'm personally better at using my legs versus my hands, so there's that."

"I can tell." He laughed. The kid has improved a lot since I have first met him.


	8. Another Mission

Minnesota... or I should probably say Kaito, since I had grown accustom to that name... and I had been training together ever since then. Once he was ready to go on missions, he's join us. I only need three boys in my life; Kaito, Alaska, and Zeta. Now, we reach today. I had turned fifteen years old just weeks ago. Kaito turns sixteen in a few months, but I don't mind that he's older. I honestly don't. We're good friends. Probably better friends than Zeta and I. I eventually develop, or more like realized, feelings for the poor sap.

"Tennessee, Minnesota?" Alaska interrupted our talk about our theories of why we're here as we ate a warm lunch.

"Yeah, Al?" I smiled. I was enjoying life.

"I have a mission just for the two of you." He sat down next to me.

I put my fork down, "And what might that be?" I was a little anxious.

"Blue base in Blood Gulch has requested backup. They want one member, but I feel like they need the advantage."

"They'd be at advantage with just Tenn, Captain." Kaito snickered.

"They'd be at advantage with any freelancer." I sighed, "Hell. They's win the war in a day with you, Al." I raised my glass of water in the air and downed it.

"I hope you're not entering your rebellious stage." Alaska sighed.

"I'm not. I didn't say I wouldn't go. And besides," I glance over at Kaito and looked back at Al, "we do tend to work better as a team. I'm willing to take the mission, but if Minnesota doesn't want to go, I'll stay. If we don't go to Blood Gulch, then you'll put us on a different mission."

"Yeah. That mission would probably be sanitation. If you don't accept missions, you're at risk of going down ranks."

"I'll go." The boy piped, "When do we leave?"

"Tonight. Get packed. I'll see you at the launch pad." He turned around and gave us a backwards wave.

"You do know that the soldiers at Blood Gulch barely ever do anything, right?" Zeta spoke up.

"Yeah, but we can pretty much get paid for doing nothing." Kaito laughed, "It's a win for everyone. They keep their daily life and we get paid for lounging around."

"We're not going to be lounging." I sighed, "We still need to train every day."

"Yeah, of course. I just mean that we really won't be forced to see blood for a while. That would be a good break." He leaned back on an imaginary wall.

"You're such a goof." I laughed.

* * *

I made sure to pack everything. All my weapons, necessary ammunition, hair brush, tooth brush, toothpaste, floss, extra clothes... it was all there. When we had landed, I put on my helmet. What were these people going to be like?

"You alright?" Minnesota noticed the amount of tension that pretty much enveloped me.

"Yeah." I sighed, "There's a reason I hate people. I just don't like working alongside someone without at least having some experience with them."

"That's probably why Alaska assigned you to train me." He laughed.

"Yeah. He tries to put me in uncomfortable situations like that."

"Well, you ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be." When we opened the door, we were greeted by moonlight and a base of blue. Minnesota left the ship first and extended his arm.

"Need some help there?"

"Thanks." I took his hand, smiling under my helmet. _Bang! _A gun shot sounded, "What the fuck!" I cowered. I know it's a battlefield, but I honestly didn't expect being shot at.

"What are you two here for?" A man's voice hollered. I noticed a man in light blue armor with a snipper rifle.

"We were sent here as reinforcements for the blue team!" I yelled back. There was a bit of a pause.

"Well, I didn't call you!" He yelled back, "Go ahead and come on in. We'll get things figured out." We did as we were told.

"That was probably the leader." My colleague sighed.

"He's a dick." I laughed. We walked inside were there were three soldiers. The one in the standard blue waved esthetically as I just moved my hand up and made a quick, but small, motion to the right.

"So, if you don't mind," The leader faced us two, "could you please introduce yourselves?"

"I'm Agent Tennessee." I widened my shoulders and straightened my back so that I would appear taller.

"Ooh. We have a girl?" The man in the teal armor spoke up.

"Tucker, shut up." The leader ordered.

"Sorry."

"You may refer to me as Agent Minnesota." Kaito spoke up, mimicking my actions.

"Alright." The leader stood taller than the other two, "I'm Church, you've met Tucker. I'd watch out for him if I were you."

"Bow chicka bow wow." Tucker laughed.

"And the idiot in standard issue blue is Caboose. He's a team killer."

"Hi." The younger soldier waved again.

"Now, I'd like to know why you're here." Church turned to specifically face me. Maybe my voice made me sound older. I have no clue.

"We were sent here upon a call that your team transmitted for back up." I unconsciously rest my right hand on my hip.

"That may be me." Caboose spoke up.

"What now?" Church turned to face the younger soldier.

"Yeah. I called blue base to talk to them, but once they picked up, I remembered that I have to have a reason to talk to them, so I went to a list that you gave me and picked a random one."

"And you chose reinforcements." The leader sighed and faced us again, "Well, while you're here, you might as well stay."

"Thank you, Sir." I saluted my new, temporary commander.

"Caboose? Since you were the one that led them here, how about you show them around?"

"I will get right on that, Best Friend." The boy pranced outside as motioned us to follow.

"Yeah, whatever." The leader sighed and went back to whatever he had been doing before we landed.

**A/N- I've just been writing all day. How many chapters I've posted today, I don't know, but I feel like I need to slow down before I'm left with writers block... just one or two more chapters, though.**


	9. This is Blue Base?

We followed this Caboose character outside and turned about sixty seven degrees to the left to find a tank he had been waiting by. Why he wanted to show us the tank first, I have no clue.

"This is Sheila." He said in such a happy tone as he stroked the metal almost lovingly. The tank appeared as if it were looking at us through the turret. It was kinda scary. I couldn't help but shiver as it faced me, "Sheila, this is agents Tennessee and Minnesota. They've come here to help us win the war."

"It's nice to meet you, Agent Tennesse, Agent Minnesota." The tank spoke in a familiar voice.

"Fillis?" I heard my companion mumble to himself as he rest a hand on the frame of the tank, "It's nice to meet you too, Sheila." I could tell he was smiling behind that helmet of his.

"Okay. Now I'll show you the base." Caboose sprung up and raced back to the base. I swear, I don't think I'll be able to catch up with him.

"Quit laggin behind, Tenn." Kaito charged after the blue soldier.

"I'm surrounded by idiots." I sighed, just starting to walk to the base.

"They'll just take some getting used to." Zeta spoke up.

"I guess." I went quiet for a minute, "But I haven't really seen him have so much fun."

"He's improved. When we first met Agent Minnesota, he would apologize for anything and everything. He made it seem like he didn't want to be there, but he just had some reason to stay."

"I can relate." I smiled, letting the blush flush across my face, for I kept my helmet securely on.

"Hurry up!" Kaito hollered. I don't know why, but I just started running. When I made it inside, I don't know how to describe what I saw. Tucker was playing with some abomination... or alien. Whatever it was, it was hideous, but cute in some way.

"Um... what is that?" I pointed at the thing.

"This is Junior." Tucker picked up the thing and stood up.

"Blarg!." It spoke up. Kaito started laughing.

"What?" I stared him down.

"Blarg honk?" Kaito said in response to the little mutant.

"Honk." It talked back.

"Well, this is honestly a first." Tucker laughed.

"We had an infestation of these things when I was younger." He walked up to Tucker and brought his finger to Junior's stomach (?), "After a while, I started to understand them. They were my only friends until the boss found them out."

"I just want to know how the thing got here." I sighed, leaning on the door frame.

"Would you believe me if I said it was my son?" Tucker laughed.

"If you're trying to impress me, that's not the way to go." I snickered.

"I'm being honest. It may need a little more explaining."

"Umm." Caboose spoke up, "We went on an adventure where an alien laid eggs into Tucker, and his sword was a key."

"Now I've seen everything." I pushed myself off the door frame into an upright position, "Should we finish the tour, Caboose?"

"Oh, yes." He sprung up and started walking down a hallway.

"Blarg blarg honk." Kaito waved at Junior.

"By you little abomination. It was a pleasure meeting you." I, too, waved goodbye to the thing.

"Blarg chicka honk honk." It said back to me.

"Um..." Tucker tried to explain.

"Like father like son." I sighed and turned the corner.

"Here's where the bedrooms are." Caboose practically cheered, as he said whose room was whose as we walked by the respective door, "This one's Church's, then Tucker's, then Junior's, and then a girl named Sister who we think is dead, and then mine." He pointed to his bedroom door that seemed different compared to the other four rooms previously mentioned. It seemed more like a storage unit, or a closest. I couldn't help but feel bad for the kid, but it wasn't my place to criticize. He was the lower rung of the totem pole, "And then these two rooms can be yours!" He jumped up with so much joy.

"I call this one." Kaito and I said in synchronization as we pointed to two different doors.

"Well, that works out perfectly!" I laughed.

"The sun is down, so it's almost time for dinner." Caboose cheered once again, "I wonder what I'm going to make myself!"

"I thought regular military figures eat meals together." Minnesota spoke up.

"Oh Tucker, Church, and Junior eat together. I eat alone!" Poor kid. Minnesota and I exchanged looks.

"Would you like to eat dinner with us?" I offered.

"That would be nice."

"Alright, then." Minnesota spoke up, "Is this going to be like on the Mother of Invention where it's safe to take you're armor off for dinner, or no?"

"It's never safe, "I sighed, "but I might as well." I opened up the door to the room I had been given and shut it behind me.

"Jess?" Zeta started talking just as I pulled my helmet off.

"Zeta. I've told you that I don't like being called that." I squatted down toward the ground, back agains the wall and arms holding my helmet between my legs.

"Sorry, Tennessee. I feel like you should get used to being referred to as a real name."

"What did you want to say?"

"That Caboose guy seems to be a good influence on you."

"Why? Because he's the exact opposite of me poured into a suit of armor?"

"Well, that's one way to put it."

"I'm just going to get something to eat." I slid out of the chest piece and Zeta's image fazed away. I just sat there for a moment, staring at the metal suit in front of me. I pulled a shirt out of the bag I had brought with me and threw it over my sports bra. I was ready to eat, but I still sat there.

"Is something bothering you, Agent Tennessee?" Zeta asked me.

"I don't know." I stood up and walked to the door, but I just stared at the handle. My body just wanted to stay in once place. My mind wanted to stay in one place. My heart wanted to leave the body it was burdened with, for it wanted change.


	10. Sleepless Night

That night I ate dinner with Caboose and Minnesota. They didn't have much food in the fridge or pantry. I did learn how to make instant ramen in the microwave, though. Pathetic, huh? Caboose is pretty much just a child trapped in an adult body. He just seems to want a friend and he lets everyone in. I don't think I want to see the day when his spirit becomes crushed.

I couldn't sleep at all. I kept tossing and turning, hoping that eventually my mind would shut off, but it didn't. I went to grab my helmet to check the time. To my surprise, it was already two a.m. I usually wake up at around that time. I even made sure to get in bed by eight thirty p.m. I held my helmet in front of me and just decided to go out for a walk. That's all I needed, right? Just some time to get used to my surroundings. It's a new place. Of course it would take forever to fall asleep! I cracked my door open to make sure no one was outside. When the coast was clear, I opened the door as much as needed and slid out of it. After closing the door behind me, I just took a stroll through the hallways. So many thoughts of both mine and Zeta's filled my head. I didn't know what to do. I was just too tired. I was just too scared. _Clank! _The sound of metal on metal reverberated throughout the hallway. I winced as I waited for the sound to go quiet. When I opened my eyes, I saw a white light shining at me and a light blue wall of armor.

"Agent Tennessee?" It was Church, "Dang, you're short." He laughed. Now's probably not a good time to mention it, but when I mentioned my hight in previous chapters, I included the extra five to six inches that the armor gives off.

"Agent Arizona said the same thing when he met me." I sighed, trying to bypass the leader of this team.

"And you seem a little young to be a Freelancer." He snarked.

"No need to be an ass about it. Minnesota is only a few months older."

"Well sorry for being surprised. Your voice makes you seem like you're in your early twenties."

"Good night, Church." I walked away from him. Honestly, at this point, I wouldn't have been surprised if he followed me. It was actually surprising that he didn't. I guess that a woman needs her space.

I walked up to the roof of the base. A light breezed flowed through my hair. The stars where beautiful. Believe it or not, you aren't really able to see this in space. You need a planet in order to be able to gather the beautiful scenery. I sat down, letting my feet dangle off the edge of the base and resting my back on a pillar. It was serene. Only the repetitive sound of some bugs batting their wings filled the air. Without knowing, I started to hum a song that I thought I had forgetting. Once I realized what I was doing, the words just started escaping my lips.

"You and I were in a dream. You'd follow close wherever I'd lead." I sung quietly, "My steps you'd echo one and all. You'd catch me safe if ever I'd fall." My eyelids went heavy, but I was still not able to sleep, "Your hand in mine we walked along. No hill too high, no road was too long. To stay with you, my only dream. To share your life, whatever it be." I let some tears stream down my cheeks, since no one was there to watch, "I knew you'd have to go away. My love for you could not help you stay. You drifted off, day by day. I cherished every breath that remained. In my arms, close to me, your body broke, your soul was set free. You left this world, my treasured friend. A chapter closed, but love has no end." My breath got slower, "Farewell my angel. You're with me always. Just close your eyes now. Next time we meet is forever."

* * *

"Hey, Tennessee." A calming voice sat next to me, "The sun's up, so you should be up." I felt something shaking me.

"I don't want to get up, Alaska." I groaned and turned to my side.

"Who's Alaska?" The voice spoke again, more clearly. I sprung awake to find Caboose.

"Good morning." I looked at the older boy with messy blonde hair and blue eyes. Had he just woken up?

"What are you doing up here? Everyone's looking for you."

I slowly stood up, "I'm sorry to make you guys worried." I rubbed my eyes and stretched my arms.

"It's also time for breakfast." He smiled, as if he had been looking forward to the meal I had promised him last night.

"Oh yeah? Don't think I forgot about that." I started walking, "Let's get going, then. I'm sure there's at least some Bisquick or something somewhere in that cabinet of ramen noodles."

"I found her!" Caboose cheered and ran inside the base. I guess he saw someone.

"Where was she?" I heard Kaito's voice. I turned the corner and walked down to ramp.

"The roof." I sighed, holding my helmet underneath my right arm. I noticed Tucker had been staring at me, "What?"

"You're young." Tucker tried to laugh it off.

"Alright. I guess the past," I looked into my helmet to check the time. It was just about six a.m. "four hours have been a time for the whole blue team to point something out 'bout me. Caboose, it's you're turn now." I glared at the boy in blonde.

"Umm... let me think." He actually took my words literally? "You're hair is really pretty, and your eyes are like emeralds." Or he's just an idiot.

"Thanks?" I shifted my weight to one foot. My eyes shifted to my feet where Junior had been looking back up at me.

"Blarg." It just stared at me.

"It's hungry." Kaito turned to Tucker.

"Anyone else want to feed him?" Tucker backed away a bit, "I'd like to keep the half a gallon of blood it'll take."

"I'm almost positive that I need that half a gallon in order to stay alive." I, too, backed away from the monstrosity, but it just followed me.

"What do you mean think?" Kaito laughed.

"You know about my blood issue, right Minnesota?" I took another step back, "Because now's not a good time to make fun of it." Kaito knelt down and held out his arm. Junior ran up to him and just dug right in.

"What did you say about a blood issue?" Tucker pointed out.

"It's none of your business." I started walking, "I'll be in the kitchen if you need me. I promised Caboose breakfast."

* * *

There actually was a bag of Bisquick in the cabinet. Originally, I was joking, but holy shit. It was actually there. I couldn't find a stove though. That seemed to be the only hard part. What confused me even more was that there was a skillet but no stove or oven to be seen. Guess fire will have to do. I grabbed a large bowl, the pancake mix, a few bottles of water, a whisk, and the skillet then headed outside. I hadn't thought it completely through, I guess. There were no trees, and therefore no firewood. Any papers I would've found could only be useful for tinder, since it burns out fast. What else could I use? Coal? Idiots like these guys probably wouldn't have that stuff available. It took the memory of a cake recipe to make me think of a good idea. It was a cake in a cup recipe that Alaska always used for our birthdays, and only our birthdays. I could do that, right? Just make pancakes in mugs and double the recipe.(You may want to use this at home if ever you need a quick breakfast or cake.) First, for every three tablespoons for mix, you add two tablespoons. After all ingredients are mixed, put that mug in the microwave for a minute. If doubling the recipe, add an extra thirty seconds.

"Zeta? You haven't been talking to me for a while. Everything alright?" I mumbled as I stirred the batter.

"I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

"I just said. You haven't been talking."

"I've just been thinking."

"That explains why I seem to hear your thoughts a bit more often then usual." I poured the batter to the one third mark of five mugs, knowing the monster won't eat anything that wasn't blood... or meat in that case. Maybe I should give it a hospital for it's next birthday. There's plenty of blood there. He'll be the new leaching. I somehow got all the mugs in the microwave and set the timer for two minutes. That should be enough, right?

"Hey! Where are the utensils?!" I yelled toward the hallway.

"Third drawer on the left!" I heard Tucker yell back, "It's probably too late to mention now, but Church might still be asleep, so don't yell!"

"Don't be a hypocrite!" I yelled back louder than before.

"WILL ALL OF YOU SHUT UP!" Church yelled then a door slammed. I couldn't stop laughing.

"Well he's pissed." I looked back at the microwave then grabbed five forks and a knife. _Ding__!_ The microwave went off then I pulled the mugs out two by two, set them down on the counter, chopped up some butter, and finally left the fork in the golden deliciousness. I found a large plate, nested the mugs on it, and carried the plate with both hands into the living room, "Anyone ready for breakfast?" I smiled.

"We're not having cake for breakfast, are we?" Kaito caught on as he sat on the couch, crutching his head with his hand.

"If you consider pancakes as cake, then yeah. There's no stove... or fire wood... so I thought I might as well try the microwave. If it's too doughy, let me know."

"I haven't had pancakes in years!" Caboose cheered as he took two mugs and gave one to Minnesota.

"Really? There easy to make." I couldn't hold back my laughter.

"Yeah," Tucker grabbed a mug for himself, "if you have some way of heating it. We wouldn't have thought about using that old microwave."

"Glad you like it. I'm going to take the initiative of waking up Mr. Grouch. Anyone wanna wish me good luck?"

"Good luck." Tucker and Caboose said in unison, as if they already knew what was going to happen. I walked up to Church's bedroom door, already afraid of what was going to happen. If Tucker and Caboose already know how this is going to turn out, what is he going to do? Shoot me in the foot? Shove a knife through my hand? There's no way he could be that violent, right? I knocked on the door.

"GOD DAMNIT, CABOOSE! WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU WANT?!" He yelled through the door.

"Sorry to interrupt your sleep, Sir," My voice got shaky all of a sudden, "but I made you some breakfast." There was probably thirty seconds of silence.

"Come on in." He huffed, as if I had already become a burden to him.

"Well, you're a bit of a grouch today." I sighed as I opened the door. His black hair was a mess as he was glaring daggers at me. I handed him his mug.

"What the hell is this?" He asked in such a snarky attitude.

"Pancakes. If you don't like it, then go ahead and throw it away, but if you do throw it away, I'm not making anything else."

"Pancakes, huh?" He prodded the meal with his fork, "It's been a while."

"Years, right? Your team talked about that." I picked up my mug and held the plate underneath my arm, "You seem a bit moody. Do you want to talk about it?"

"Maybe you could talk about it with Caboose. He was the one who kept me up all night. I only got two hours of sleep." He took a bite of his meal, then stared down at it as if in shock.

"If Caboose bothers you so much at night, why not lock your door?"

"Why do you ask that? Does your door actually have a lock?"

"No. I was just sure that you would've wanted a room with a lock. You are the leader here."

"None of the rooms have locks. Even if they did, he'd just sit outside and scratch at the door as if he were some cat."

"I'm sure I'm going to eventually regret this," I sighed, "but why not send him to my room."

"Yeah, you will regret that."

I played around with the pat of butter in my mug for a minute, "I'm guessing the funding for blue team's pretty low."

"How'd you guess?" He said in a sarcastic tone.

"Well, there's no stove, no oven, no firewood, and you guys seem to love your instant meals. I swear, I'd spent my own money on you guys if I weren't afraid it would be a waste."

"What kind of money do you even get?"

"Let's say I have enough to get a TV the size of a billboard and then some," I grinned, plopping some food into my mouth, "and that's just my birthday money."

"Then what the fuck are you doing here?"

"What do you mean?"

"Why are you here instead of buying a mansion? I understand you're still a kid, but come on."

"I'm here because I want to be here. Do you think they give out missions and say that you must take it or else? We have a choice."

"No. I mean why are you even still in Project Freelancer?" I looked down at my food, simply saying an I don't know in a solemn voice.

"Maybe it's because Project Freelancer saved my sanity... or that I still have something to fight for." I escorted myself out. I was just about to close the door until Church spoke up.

"That song you sung last night." Crap. I didn't think anyone heard me.

"What about it?"

"You seemed emotionally attached to it. It seemed like the meaning you hold for yourself would've faded if you stopped. What's so special about that song to you?"

"Let's just say it reminds me of my mother." I felt tears well up in my eyes and I closed the door. I walked to my room, still carrying the plate, and just sat down how I usually sit when there's no chair near by. Squatting down, back against the wall hands in-between my legs. I just sat there and let the tears drip off my chin into a mug that once held a meal.


	11. Night Terrors

Ever since about eight a.m., I had put myself of sentry duty. I just needed some intel on the red team. By the time I had checked the clock again, it had been noon.

"I've been sitting here for hours." I mumbled under my breath, "When are they going to do anything?"

"Patience is the key, Agent Tennessee." Zeta answered my question.

"According to Caboose, the sword is the key, too."

"And Delta told me memory was the key."

"I never met Delta. Was he a good brother?"

"He was the smarter one out of all of us."

"Shh. There's doing something." I watched as a bright red soldier stepped outside and yelled at the yellow and maroon soldiers to do some work. My gaze followed them as they walked up to a M12LRV.

"Clean the Warthog!" The older soldier ordered.

"Sarge," The yellow one started complaining, "can I do this tomorrow? I need to set a perimeter in the shade over there."

"Grif," The bright red one spoke again, "if you don't get off your lazy ass, I'll have Simmons slit your throat in your sleep."

"Oh, I'll do it, Sir." The maroon armored man, presumably Simmons, had his say. After a bunch of bickering between Grif and the Sarge, they eventually ended up doing as they were told.

"Hey guys!" A soldier in pink armor came running out of the base. It shocked me to here a male voice.

"What now, Donut?" Grif turned to face his colleague.

"You guys wanna check out my scrapbook?" The younger man held up a light green book with a pink rim and a paper flower, "It has pictures of all of us!?

"I got all the god damn intel I needed in fifteen fucking minutes." I stood up and started walking to the base, "So not worth the four hour wait." I started running, hoping that the red team wouldn't see me. Either that or just wouldn't care.

By the time I made it back to blue base, no one (excluding Sheila, of course) had been outside. I stepped inside and only Kaito was in the living room. He had long been passed out on the battered up couch. It was adorable, though. He had been sitting up, but he was obviously unconscious. I sat next to my cute, tall brunet, and took my helmet off. I was tempted to take the arm off of my armor and play with his hair, but I resisted. I just sat there, staring as if I had been waiting for him to wake up any second with that goofy smile of his.

"Te... nne...ssee." He mumbled. He must have been dreaming. Either that or he noticed my presence and was just too weak to move. Loss of blood can do that to you, I think.

"When did you get back?" Tucker spoke from the door frame that lead to the bedrooms. There was no door but I had forgotten the exact term for a doorway without a door... entryway? You know what? I'm just not going to dwell on it.

"Just now." I leaned back on the furniture. There was a moment of silence.

"He got up to join you on the field, but passed out. Loss of blood does that." He tried to lighten the mood.

"All because of that monstrosity of yours." I laughed.

"Don't hurt on family."

"If you're technically the mother of that thing, then how the heck does that happen?"

"Um... I'm not going to get in specifics."

"Well, it had to at least shatter your pelvis... unless it was birthed via c-section."

"Maybe you should drop this topic."

"Fine. It's just strange..." Silence, "You probably have nothing left in that area, huh?" I grinned.

"I said drop it."

"If it makes you feel better, which ever woman you end up with for the rest of your life will know that you went through similar pain."

"Drop it, please. Right now."

"Alright, alright. I'm done."

"Tenn?" Minnesota must've woken up, "What's with all the bickering?"

"Oh, you're up?" I changed my attention to the boy sitting next to me, "Are you alright? You don't feel dizzy or anything, do you?"

"I have a bit of a headache, but I'll be fine." I wobbled off the couch.

"You need help there, bud?" I laughed at his attempt to be strong.

"I'm fine." There's that goofy smile I've been waiting for, "What'd you find out while on the field?"

"Nothing interesting. They don't understand that their car looks more like a big cat versus a 'warthog,' the red one's the leader, yellow one's lazy, maroon one's a kiss-ass, and then there's the pink one... who's obviously gay." I stood up, "Really, if you're feeling bad I can help you to your room."

"I'm alright, Tenn."

"Aww." Tucker mocked us in the background.

"What's with the smug look?" My smile changed into a strict look.

"Nothing." The adult grinned from ear to ear, "You two are just acting like an old, married couple."

I felt my cheeks flush red, "I-i-it's not like that. W-we're just good friends."

"I was just kidding, but now I- Gah!"

I cut him off with a punch to the gut, "If you need me, I'll be in the kitchen. If I'm not there, then I'm eating in my room." I walked off, leaving the poor sap on the ground.

"Was that really necessary?" Zeta spoke with a scolding tone.

"Yes, it was." I sighed, "And I hurt my hand with that blow. That atta teach him not to mess with me."

"Jess?"

"I know you're trying to prove a point, but I've insisted multiple times for you to call me Tennessee." I turned to look behind me, seeing no one, "You better hope you're lucky enough that no one heard that, or else I'm pulling you for a month."

"You could've killed the poor guy."

"No I couldn't. I hit him hard enough that he would reach the brink of death. He's only facing death, but he'll make it alive." I started laughing, "I may have killed his next alien cross breed." I poured water into a cup of soup and put it in the microwave for three minutes (it's not in the instructions on the side, but it still works).

"You're still not supposed to injure those who ask for your help."

"Correction. According to the Freelancer code, we don't kill those who are willing to pay us unless a liable reason in available. It says nothing about injuring."

"It's called being a decent human being."

"I'm sorry. I don't think that's possible in my case." I watched as my meal to come spun in circles, "I've killed one too many in just my first official mission... and I just don't regret it anymore. It was either I died or she killed me. Everyday I wish that never happened, but I never regret it." _Ding!_ The microwave went off, "I just can't change the past. Maybe if I wasn't so violent as a kid, I wouldn't be standing here. I probably wouldn't really understand true misery."

"You'd probably be ash."

"Yeah. That orphanage burned down three years ago, didn't it?" I started walking towards my room, "Project Freelancer kept me sane, destroyed me, then saved whatever scraps of sanity I had. I wouldn't be anywhere without it."

* * *

For the first time in years had I spent hours in my room without sleeping. I only came out by the time I needed to eat dinner. What could I say? I had no training dummy, and it wasn't like I would be allowed to use anyone for training practice. For the first time in years, I remembered what it felt like to relax. I remembered what it felt like to be able to sit down and read a book. I remembered what it was like to get an extra half an hour of sleep while I was uninfected with disease. My body still woke itself up at two, but I was glad I fell asleep earlier. I didn't want to move around the halls, afraid that I would wake someone up. I just turned on the lights and grabbed the book I had been reading earlier. It's tile was Ender's Game. I had brought (stolen from Alaska) the whole quintet, since I had been planning on reading it for some time. So far it was really interesting, but I'm not going to spoil for you readers out there who obviously like a good story. At about threeish o' clock, I heard a faint knock on the door.

"Who is it?" I asked, trying to keep my voice low.

"It's me." I heard Caboose's voice, "Church told me to come bother you."

"Come on in." I finished the sentence I had been reading then bent the corner of the page to mark my place. The door creaked open and the young blonde flinched, acclimating to the light, "Uh, sorry about that."

"I didn't wake you up, did I?" He closed the door behind him, holding tight to a pillow. I noticed he had only been in boxers and a tee.

"No, I've been awake for a while. How come you don't have pajama bottoms on?" Yes, I'm not used to seeing men in their boxers. Don't hate.

"Right now is supposed to be nap time, and that's before pants time. I don't make up the times." He sat on the floor.

"Well kudos to you for at least keeping your under ware on." I laughed, but stopped as I noticed he had been holding onto his pillow tighter, "Hey? You wanna come onto the bed and talk about what's troubling you?"

"I'm fine here..."

"Really? I don't mind." I watched as he crawled into the bed next to me. He really is mentally just a kid. His body was obviously bigger than mine, but his personality would say he was still kind of like a toddler, "Now, do you want to talk about it?"

"I had a nightmare... There were girls chasing me."

"Isn't that good?" I kept myself from laughing. He didn't believe in cooties, did he?

"They had weapons... and there were laughing... and... and," His grip somehow got even tighter on the pillow to the point where it was about to tear. Poor kid was probably traumatized by his own imagination, "Sheila was with them."

"It was just a dream." I rest my hand on his back and moved it in circular motions, hoping to calm him down, "Dreams can't hurt you."

"It doesn't surprise me though." This response shocked me, "Girls usually don't like me..."

"Well, I like you." I tried to comfort him.

"Then you're probably not a girl." He sniffled.

"I take offense to that." I crossed my arms over my chest, "These puppies don't grow on men, you know."

"I don't see any puppies on you." This guy's dumb... but observant.

"Yeah. Just forget I said that... Would you like to talk about something else?"

"Do you know I have a gun that shoots crayons?"

"Ah, when was the last time I held a crayon? Was I seven? No wait... eight."

"Are you alright?"

"No. I just hear my childhood bidding me farewell... and I may be having an aneurism." I let a crooked smile creep across my face.

"Do you want to color pictures with me tomorrow? It can be like a party! Or a sleep over! We can stay up all night!" He smiled.

"I think I'll have to pass." Silence filled the room for probably five minutes.

"Do you have someone who's special to you?" He asked is such a cheery tone.

"I have a few people that I hold dear to me, if that's what you're asking."

"No. I mean like someone you'd die for."

I subconsciously allowed myself to have a small smile across my face, "I do have someone like that. It's funny how life works. They say when you die, your brain is still active for seven minutes. It replays your life and memories as if you were in a dream. You never know if you're actually alive, but you wonder. If you really are dead, did you die for someone worth dying for, or was it by natural causes... or maybe your life was just taken by the one you held dear."

"Well, I have Church. Every year we've kept a tradition. I wish him a happy Valemtimes Day and he gives me my own heart!" He hugged the pillow he had been holding onto.

"That's nice of him. I guess he has the time to not be a jerk to you."

"Valemtimes Day's next month."

"Yeah. It's January something or other, right?"

"It's the twenty-third... I wonder what I should get him this year. I've been thinking about giving him my orange juice! I promised him he could have it if I die."

"If I remember right, Minnesota was a Valentines baby. His birthday's on the fourteenth of February."

"Maybe we could get him a present. We can cover it in paper with drawings all over it."

"That would be nice. I've never really gotten him anything before. He never said he wanted anything. He always seemed fine eating cake with me and Alaska."

"... can I spend the rest of the night here? I don't want to go to bed alone." Still like a child.

"Sure... I could go for some more sleep too." I stood up and turned off the lights, "Good night."

"Nighty." A smile formed on his face. I wondered how he could have nightmares so easily if just his smile warded off even my own fear.


	12. My Very Own Rainbow

I woke up in my room alone. Had I just dreamt last night? I looked into my helmet to find the time of five a.m.. I actually was able to sleep longer than five and a half hours? This is a first. Due to my extra hours of rest, it felt harder to get out of bed. My head on shoulders felt as if they were being weighed down by lead bricks. My stomach gurgled, realizing that it usually had a meal at this time. Maybe I'll just settle for scrambled eggs or something. Those can be made in the microwave, right? I walked out my room, trying to force a spring in my step to get the blood flowing to my feet... and maybe my brain. You know those dizzy spells you can get if you immediately start moving around after waking up where everything in view becomes hazy for a brief second? Yeah. I had to deal with that for a minute. I leaned up against the wall, trying to regain my stability. I heard a voice coming from the living room. It was a voice different from the blue team and Minnesota, but it was familiar. I turned the corner to see someone I personally didn't expect. Heck. It could've been Alaska asking for his quintet back, but no. It had to be him.

"Hey, Dufresne." I tripped over air.

"Well, you're looking bright and dandy!" The medic replied, "It's been a while... um."

"Tennessee." I sighed, actually expecting him to forget my name, "Yeah. It's been what... since Minnesota joined Project Freelancer, so two years."

"And haven't you grown!"

"I grew three inches since you last saw me."

"I hate to interrupt," Church intervened our 'heartfelt' moment, "but are you two familiar with each other?"

"He's one of the few medics Project Freelancer allows on the Mother of Invention. He's mostly their for giving physicals and to learn about how to actually treat people." I leaned on the door frame.

"Oh, I remember you!" The poor, purple medic spoke, "You're that little girl that got stabbed in the stomach! I learned how properly take care of those with Hemophilia during your operation!"

"You can shut up, now." I glared daggers at him.

"I also helped you with your post-tramatic stress. Do you still scream when you think about your mother? Oh! How are you on Hemochrotisema?"

"Shut the fuck up, Frank!" I yelled, afraid he would talk even more. I just watched as he flinched.

"No. Go on, Doc. I want to hear more about our new member here." Church rooted the 'doctor' on.

"Well you won't here from him anymore, because he's leaving, right?"

"Actually, I was told that blue team has two new members. I need to preform a physical on you and Minnesota." Medic Dufresne ignored my plea.

"And then you're gone, right?"

"Yeah. I'll be gone." He pulled out his scanner thing, "Ladies first. Would anyone like to assist?" I tried to formulate words, but the shock of him actually asking that question prevented me from doing so.

"I think Minnesota should help." Caboose broke the silence, as Kaito spit out his drink of orange juice, "They've known each other for the longest."

"N-n-n-none of them are going to assist." I managed to say, crossing my arms over my chest, "They're all going to wait out here and are not going to consider invading a girl's privacy."

* * *

The physical was the regular, uncomfortable routine. I was scanned from head to toe with his scanner, blood was withdrawn for testing, things of the like. I'm not going to go through every step. By the time it was over, I got dressed.

"Hey, Dufresne?" I looked up towards the medic.

"Yeah?" He looked away from his clipboard to face me.

"Are there any diseases I should worry about here in Blood Gulch?"

"Of course!" He seemed strangely happy about it, "There's that one type of airborne malaria, radioactivity in one of the small bodies of water in one of the caves, aliens that infect you with parasitic embryos," He listed probably as many issues in this place as cells in the eye, "and that's just the basics."

"Forget I asked." I sighed, just about to leave.

"Hey," He kept me from leaving, "how often do you get stressed or angry anymore?"

"Um..." I remembered hitting Tucker yesterday, "A little more often, actually."

"Would you like me to leave you some incense or some of those calming oils?"

"I don't think smells will simply help me when most of my issues are due to trauma." I let out a weak laugh.

"You'll be surprised." He pulled out a box of incense and a lighter, "I remembered that you liked this one. I've been meaning to give it to you the next time I saw you."

"The dragon's blood one?" I hesitantly took the gift out of his hand, "Well, thank you.

"Alright! I'll see you later."

"Well, I'm going to get some food. Hurry up with Minnesota's physical then get out of blue base."

"Will do!" He gave me a wave goodbye. I walked outside of the room and made my way to the kitchen. I was starving! I honestly wouldn't care if I were just fed a styrofoam cup. I took two eggs and broke them into a paper bowl. I stirred until the whole thing was yellow then added a bit of milk, still stirring. I popped it into the microwave for about two minutes. I honestly don't know how long it takes for eggs to completely cook, but I gave it enough time to at least kill all the bacteria.

"What's this?" Tucker held up the box that the medic had just given me.

"That's incense." I turned back to face the microwave, watching the countdown.

"Alright. How'd you get it?" He pried further.

"Medic Dufresne gave it to me." My breakfast had finished cooking, "He remembered how stressed I was two years ago so he held onto that for the next time we met.

"Does it smell good?" He pulled out one out of the two hundred sticks in the box and held it against his nose.

"It was always my favorite one. For every time that we met, he'd light a different one. He had this cool, little incense burner that looked like a dragon where you light a cone and it looks like the dragon is breathing out smoke."

"I guess it's what you expect from a pussyfist." He put the stick back in the box.

"I believe the word you're looking for is pacifist, dumb ass."

"Same difference."

"Not really. The one you said isn't even a word."

"It really doesn't matter."

"It kinda does, if you want to use proper English."

"Calm your tits." He turned around and started to walk away, "Why don't you light up one on those incense thing-a-ma-bobs?"

"You're such an asshole!" I yelled after him. After probably a minute, I took the eggs out of the microwave and practically inhaled them. I was hungry after all. My philosophy toward food has always been to take the first bite for taste and the rest for energy.

I walked down the hall to hear laughter come out of Caboose's room. I knocked on the door and opened it to find him surrounded in crayons.

"Um, Caboose? You alright there?" I bothered to ask.

"I'm coloring!" He cheered, "Would you like to join me, Tennessee?"

I took a moment to think about this. Didn't he offer something like this last night? I can't just say no, since I obviously have nothing else to do, "Sure, I guess. I'm somehow not swamped with work right now, so this should be a good way to kill time." I closed the door behind me and sat down next to him. Despite the fact that this was probably originally a storage room of some sort (And was of course smaller than the other rooms), it was surprisingly roomy. There was enough room for a bed, a desk and two people to lie down on the ground with a pile of paper and a shit ton of crayons.

"I drew this for you." He smiled, passing me a paper of a flower.

"Thanks Caboose." I returned his smile, "I'll be sure to hold onto this."

"I have pictures of the red team, Church, Tucker, Junior, and Doc, but I don't have any drawings of you or Minnesota. Do you think I should?"

I looked at the walls covered in paper and crayola, "That's up to you." I now directed my attention to a blank piece of paper in front of me.

"What are you going to draw?"

"I don't know. I'm used to wasting my rare free time with calligraphy, not colored wax."

"I'm sure we can think of something together!"

I pondered for a moment then got a good idea, "Hey, do you happen to have a canvas and some glue? We may need scissors, too."

"Yeah. Tucker got me a canvas once, saying that I need to go to the next step in art, and I have the glue because no one asked for it back." He stood up and brought a six foot perimeter, square canvas, a bottle of elmer's glue, and a pair of scissors to where we had been sitting.

"Hey. Incase I ever forget, remind me to by you a few more boxes of crayons."

"Alright, but what are we doing?"

"Something cool that Alaska showed me. I actually have it hanging on my wall in my room back on the Mother of Invention." I started with a red crayon and glued it to the top left hand corner of the canvas.

"Mother of who?"

"Never mind." I continued gluing crayons. Caboose just stood still, watching. I aligned the colors in a rainbow formation from left to right. I then took a piece of paper and wrote out CABOOSE in thick, bold text. I cut out the letters and lightly glued them to the canvas, so that I could peel it off later, "And we're done. All we need is heat." I stood up, taking the canvas with me.

"Where are we going to get heat?" He stood up with me.

"Outside. It's got to be at least one hundred and thirty degrees out there. That's enough to get this to work. Get your armor on so that the fans can cool you off. I'll be right back." I walked over to my room and put on my own armor. I don't want my brain to end up melting out there, anyway. We walked up to the roof and I set the canvas almost vertical against a pillar where the sun could reach it. It took some time before it started to melt, but Caboose's reaction was worth it. It makes me wonder whether or not I was really that excited. It took probably about three fourths of an hour before it was done. It's not like they had one of those shrink wrap blow driers like Alaska used, but using the environment was a great improvise. I picked it up and we brought it inside so that the wax could cool off.

"This is so cool!" He took off his helmet.

"Yeah. It took longer than I had hoped." I set it down onto the floor, "It needs to cool off so that it doesn't continue to drip, so we should give it a minute." Caboose started counting the seconds. It was adorable how he kept repeating the number thirty three by the time he got to it. He's just like the little brother I never got to grow up with. When the wax had completely cooled, I peeled off the previously mentioned paper, leaving blank spots in the wax, "There you go. It's my return gift for that beautiful flower you drew for me."

He picked up the canvas with a giddy face, "I always knew that there was a way to have my very own rainbow!"

"Well, I'm glad you like it." I smiled then stood up.

"Where are you going?"

"To get some water and take off my armor. I can come back out in minute... I've just been in the sun for too long."

"Oh, I hate when that happens. You go ahead and rest. I'll be fine."

"Thanks." I held up the arm of my armor I had to take off to peel the letters off the canvas, "I might as well do that."


	13. Lessons of Insubordination

Well, I'm sick. Standing out in the sun just made the symptoms more noticeable. I regret everything now. Doc said I had some sort of influenza that only appears on hot planets like this. Honestly, I don't think he knows what he's talking about. All I know is that I vomit whenever I'm fed and I get stomach cramps when I don't eat. _Knock, knock. _Someone had been knocking on the door.

"What the hell do you want?" I snapped.

Minnesota opened the door with a bowl of soup, "I understand you've felt like shit yesterday, but that doesn't mean you have to take it out on me."

"Sorry." I slowly sat up, "I'm not hungry, though."

"Sure you are. You haven't eaten in twelve hours." He sat next to me.

"You know that you can get sick if you get to close, right?"

"Then we'll be sick together." He gave me a wide grin, setting the bowl on my lap, "I'm just focused on getting you better." He leaned against the wall.

"Thanks, I guess." I looked down at the chicken broth in front of me, "Where's you get the supplies for this?"

"These guys have everything that just takes a few minutes to microwave. Everything else is unopened."

"That actually sounds about right."

"Hey, just a fair warning. I think Church and Tucker are going to come in and ask you about the things Dufresne said while you're weak. They think you won't be able to pummel them in an instant."

I just stared at a blank wall, "Can you do me a favor, while I'm still calm?"

"What?"

"If I ask you to shoot me while throwing up, do so as quick as possible."

"I'm not a team killer." He laughed at how pathetic I had become.

"I'm serious." I stared him down.

"If an organ physically exits your body and or you start vomiting blood, then I'll make your death quick and painless." He promised.

"Well, at least I have something to look forward to." I started drinking the broth.

"Do you mind if I ask you a serious question?"

"That all depends." I set the bowl back on my lap.

"How did you get that scar on your stomach?"

"Okay, now I mind."

"Sorry. I don't want to make you uncomfortable. I've just been wondering for the longest time."

"I don't blame you." I gave a faint laugh, "I'm sure they're going to ask that, too... can you hand me my laptop? It's in my bag."

"You actually brought that with you?" He laughed, standing up and doing as he was asked.

"I downloaded all the Disney movies about a month ago. Now's a good time to actually get to watching them."

"So you agreed to my plan of rest and relaxation?" He handed me the computer.

"When I get better, and if you're not sick, we're getting back to training." I took it out of his hands, "Rest and relaxation only factors when we have nothing to do."

"Alright, alright. What are you going to watch?"

"I don't know. The only Disney movies I've ever seen were Monster's Inc and Beauty and the Beast." I typed in my password and opened a folder.

"Well, which ones do you have?"

"I just told you. All of them." I laughed.

"I think you'd like Mulan."

"What's that one about?"

"It takes place in China when they were fighting Mongolia, I think. It's about a girl who disguises as a man to go to war in place of her father. I've only seen it once."

"Alrighty, then." I clicked the movie and waited for it to play. Boy am I such an emotional girl. I started crying halfway though the song 'Reflection.' Kaito was nice enough to not point it out. Either nice or afraid.

"Wow. She looks a lot like a guys now." He laughed.

"I thought you saw this before."

"No. I never got to watch TV or movies growing up. I just happened to know what the movie was about. I thought you would like it since I stumbled on a few of your online courses from two to five in the morning."

"If you never saw any movies, they how did you know about this one?"

"I looked it up during our break between dinner and curfew. I was never up long enough for us to watch it through, and you wanted to train most of the day after lessons. Heck, you spent your after dinner break for individual training."

"What can I say?" I laughed, weakly.

"You have ambition. You don't give up when you know you've been beaten."

"Is that bad?"

"No. It's great. Do you know the Japanese proverb, 'Fall seven times; stand up eight?'"

"Yeah. It means that even if you're down, you shouldn't give up."

"Yeah." We continued the movie until Mulan got the arrow. At this point, Caboose interrupted.

"Hey. Are you alright, Ms. Tennessee?" The blonde had a weak smile across his face.

"Yeah." I responded with a smile, "I'm glad you show some concern for me."

"I just feel responsible." He ducked his head.

"It's not your fault. This planet harbors so many diseases, according to Doc. I was bound to catch something I wasn't immune to." I laughed, coughing toward the end.

"Well... Church said something about immunities meaning that you can have a sickness in you, but not get sick from it, and since I went into your room the night before-"

"Wait a minute." Kaito interrupted, "He went into your room at night? How come I try to sneak into your room, and you just scream? This isn't fair!"

"First off, he had a nightmare."

"I had a nightmare! Where's my medal?!" He was over exaggerating.

"Second, he's five to seven years old in that mind of his. It's not like he's going to attack me."

"You scream at the fucking news reports when there are child rape activities, yet you put yourself in a situation like that?"

"What's rape?" Caboose broke up our fight.

"It's nothing to worry about." I answered his question, "Now, Minnesota. I'm letting you in my room now. You could be a little more grateful to your superior."

"You're only a superior because you've been in Project Freelancer since you were fucking ten years old." Alright... He's mad, "I was fourteen joining the god damn thing. If I had a little more time to prove myself, I'd outrank you!"

"In order to outrank me, you need to be able to take me down. If I recall, you still haven't done that yet. Now, can you please get out? I'm fucking sick, and I don't want to have to deal with this shit." I pointed towards the door, and he simply got up and left.

"Does that mean I have to leave, too?" Caboose whimpered.

"If you could... I just need to relax. If I'm under stress, then I'll only get worse." I sighed, watching as the door shut closed. I was alone... I felt empty inside, as if half of my own soul had abandoned me. I stood up to grab the box of incense and lighter. I lit a stick and set it down on the desk. It already had burn marks on it, so a little smoke and debris wouldn't make much difference. I lied back down in bed. I wanted to hide myself from everyone else. I just wanted to become an entity. I didn't want to have a physical body anymore, for all it feels is pain.

* * *

I got better over the course of two days. By the time I was strong enough to walk further than my room, I took the chance. I was slowly able to eat more food without disposing of it within five minutes. Once I was completely well, I ate about double of what I had grown accustom to. Yeah, I should exercise it off, right? That's been my plan for a while, now.

"Minnesota!" I yelled from the living room.

"What do you need?" He turned the corner to enter my room.

"Help me move everything towards the walls."

"Even the TV?"

"No." I said sarcastically, "We need the wires of the television to trip over."

"No need to be a bitch about it." He walked up to one edge of the beaten up couch as I took the other.

"I'm not being a bitch about it." We lifted up the couch and moved it to the closest wall, "You just need to use that brain I'm almost positive you have."

"What do you mean almost?" He went to the table the television had been resting on.

"Upon meeting you, I learned that there is always margin for error." I followed him, taking the opposite side.

"It's pronounced margarine." He responded with such a serious tone. He didn't think that margin and margarine were the same, right? We lifted up the table and followed the wires.

"You know margarine is a butter substitute and margin pretty much means space." We set the TV down and hid the wires under the table.

"I was joking." He gave an unconfident laugh. He actually did think they were the same. I curled my fingers into a fist and held them up, "What's that supposed to mean?"

I dropped down to the ground and knocked him off his feet. I then got up and put one foot to his chest, "That's what it's supposed to mean, dumb ass. If you want to get a higher rank than me, you're going to have to beat me in my own game."

He grabbed me by the ankle and threw me to the ground, "I don't have time for this. Wait until my time between rest and relaxation to actually come charging at me."

"You bastard!" I ran up to him with the intention of hitting him on the head, but he just grabbed my arm.

"You know how sensitive I am to that!" He spun me around and tried to dislocate my shoulder.

"Cry me a river." I kicked him in the stomach, causing him to release my arm. I then moved further away from him.

"You better not be trying to abandon a fight you started!" He started charging after me. I dodged and he hit his head on the metal walls.

"You need to know the consequences of insubordination. I'm not just simply going to abandon that."

"How the fuck was I being insubordinate?" He crutched his head.

"You were being ungrateful while I was sick. I jumped up and knocked him to the ground with my leg.

"If anything, you were being ungrateful! I was taking time out of MY life to make sure YOU got better!" He gasped as I stepped pretty hard on his collar bone.

"What the hell are you two fighting over?" Church was standing by the couch with a cup of coffee.

"It's none of your business." I pressed my heel deeper as the boy under it began to make sputter noises.

"Now, fighting doesn't solve anything." Caboose pulled me off the guy and held my arms at my side. I just was there, flailing my legs. How the hell did Caboose get there without me recognizing? I have no clue, but he had more strength than I expected.

"He's stronger than you'd think." Church laughed at pathetic me, "It's compensation for his competence."

I sighed, "Oh, fuck me."

"No thank you." The older man continued to laugh.

"I didn't mean it like that!" I growled.

"That doesn't matter right now. What I'm wondering is why you'd just attack a teammate."

"This isn't the first time, too!" Tucker yelled across the hall, as if he could hear us.

"It's not like I was going to kill him." I averted my attention to a nearby wall.

"Oh, you weren't going to kill him?" Church asked in an obviously sarcastic manner, "Then by all means, please continue."

"I am familiar with sarcasm, Sir."

"Well, we already have one team killer," He looked at Caboose, "and I wouldn't want to have another."

"Fine." I huffed, "Like I said, he'd be fully alive, and maybe able to operate."

"Just act like a real girl for a minute."

"I'm not familiar what a girl without military experience behaves."

"Then look it up! We have internet."

"Yeah. All two bars." Now I was being sarcastic.

"Just don't hurt anyone else." He spoke slowly as if I hadn't understood him as is.

"You don't need to patronize me." I managed to escape the blonde's iron grip then started to walk down the hall, but was accidentally blocked by Tucker.

"Whoops. Sorry." The man of teal armor moved out of the way.

"You better be." I huffed and made my way to my room.


	14. Florescent Moss

It was late at night. I decided to take a shower. After my experience with water as cold as ice, I wrapped myself in a towel. I stared at the mirror, realizing I looked more like... her as I continued to mature. I want insane back there. I COULD have killed my friend, and I even tried. I was just like her; insane. I put both hands on the porcelain sink, trying to find something in me that still showed a bit of sanity. I needed to find it as if my life would end if I just ignored it.

"I'm still sane." I whispered to myself, "I have to be." I kept repeating the same seven words. Tears fell down my face and anger welled up inside of me. I couldn't look at myself without feeling sick, "I can't end up like her!" I yelled, breaking the mirror in front of me. I was insane. Not only was I like her, I was her. I collapsed to the ground, pulling the shards of glass out of my knuckles and ignoring the glass that now reached my legs. Images of that mission appeared in my head of my mother's insane expression as she looked into my eyes and dug my knife deeper into my left side. _Click click. _The a door handle made a sound as if someone were trying to come in.

"Is anyone in there?" It was Church's voice.

"Yeah. I'll be out in a minute." I tried to make my voice sound as normal as possible.

"You alright?" He must've caught on.

"I-I'm fine. Give me a minute." I pushed the scattered glass in a pile and moved it all towards the wall. I made sure that the towel was secure around my torso and made my way out the door. First I stepped out and Church walked in.

"Why is the mirror in pieces?"

"I'll pay you back." I ducked my head and made my way to my room.

"You may want to know that there's glass in the back of your legs."

"Thanks for letting me know." I walked to my door and entered the room, making sure to block the door with a chair since it didn't have a lock. I looked at the backs of my legs to find little shards scattered up and down, ending at the middle of my thighs. I fumbled around for the medical kit under the desk and opened the red box. I found an assortment of things tweezers, gauze, painkillers, burn cream, Hemochrotisema, you know, the good stuff. Now, being the conservative me, I don't want to use the Hemochrotisema unless absolutely necessary. I took the tweezers and pulled out the glass that I was unable to pull out with my fingers. Once all the glass was gone, I reached for the antibacterial cream and gauze. Once everything was done, I put on sweat pants and a tank top. I took the chair back to the desk and was just ready to sleep, but so many thoughts haunted my mind, making it nearly impossible. I couldn't shake the feeling that Kaito would never forgive me. I could have killed him. He probably hates me... Heck, I would hate me. The thoughts kept flooding my mind. I needed to push them out.

I decided to go for a walk, bringing my helmet with me incase necessary. I walked down the halls, then outside the base, and down to a cave. I ventured further into the cave, finding a waterfall like structure with a pool of clear water.

"Theres water in one or two of the caves that's extremely radioactive." I remembered Doc's words, "It doesn't affect you unless you touch it." Doc doesn't know what he's talking about, but I still avoided touching the water with my bare feet. I ventured even further, leaving myself above the waterfall. The floor and walls were line with florescent colored moss. I just enjoyed how it felt on my feet. My worries seemed to fade away and the cold memories seemed to have been... wait. Where am I? I noticed this leather back book and pen I had just been writing in, but I have forgotten why... Why am I here? My name is Jessie McGuire, and I am seven years old.

* * *

I'll be taking over with some writing for a while in Agent Tennessee's place, since she's probably going to forget about it sooner or later. My name is Agent Minnesota. I have kept myself from reading this journal, because I'm not like that. It's just useful that everything that happens is catalogued.

I woke up one morning, later than usual. It was six-o-clock a.m.. I walked into the kitchen, hoping to find my partner in crime cooking some eggs or something of the like. She wasn't there. I last saw her entering her room last night, and I would have figured she would be awake and doing something by now. Perhaps she assigned herself to sentry duty again. I looked into the living room to see Church talking to Caboose in an unusual, not so scolding tone.

"It's Agent Minnesota." Caboose pointed at me. I wasn't quite too sure what had been going on.

"Hi?" I waved.

"Hey." Church turned to face me, "Do you happen to know where Agent Tennessee went?"

"She's missing?" I grew confused. She never just gets up and leaves without letting someone know unless she expected to be in the same building or back within an hour.

"Yeah." Caboose spoke up, "I went to her room to wake her up, because I got bored."

"I went to check to make sure that he wasn't just being too paranoid," now it was Church's turn to speak, "Everything, except her and her helmet, was there, so she couldn't have just ran away."

"She can't be on sentry duty either, since she takes precautions." I looked outside the sky light above us, "She probably brought her helmet just incase this happened."

"Or to misdirect us." Church spoke up again.

"That too." I started for my room.

"Where are you going?"

"The helmets they give us Freelancers have a beacon so that they can be tracked. I can use my helmet in order to find her."

"Sound like a plan. Caboose, let's suit up."

"Okay." The blonde dashed for his room. I went to my own room and got into my armor. I just kept hoping that she'd be alright as I walked back to the living room.

"Is Tucker going to help?" I sighed, trying to pinpoint Tennessee's location.

"He's feeding his grub." Church looked at me through his helmet, "Doc somehow got ahold of a years worth of blood packs for the hideous monstrosity."

"Alright." I found a bright red arrow on my visor, pointing in the direction where Tennessee hopefully was, "Found her."

"Coordinates?"

"Umm..." I looked at the coordinates under the dot, "X:275, Y:784, Z:Unknown." I walked towards the exit.

"I'm following you!" Caboose cheered, excited about this little 'adventure' of ours. We continued to walk outside to fid the red arrow hovering over a cave. We walked further in and the arrow rested next to a waterfall.

"She's not here." I sighed, at least looking for her helmet. I noticed a hole above the water and a platform with multiple glowing colors, "Unless she's above us."

"Let's hope she didn't touch the moss." Church looked at the platform above us.

"What's wrong with the moss?" I was curious, now.

"It erases memories until you just have innocence." He started walking, "Tucker got ahold of the damn stuff last year. Made him think he was twelve."

"There's a cure for that, right?"

"Doc has a 'cure,' but it takes a week to take effect. It tastes foul, though. Depending on what age she would think she is, saying that she did touch the moss, she may fight back."

"Well, let's hope she didn't touch it." I spoke too soon.

"Banzai!" I shrill voice yelled as something splashed into the water. It was Agent Tennessee, dressed in sweatpants and a tank top. I didn't think she knew how to swim... She looked at us with confusion.

"I found her!" Caboose cheered.

"Thanks, Caboose." Church responded to the cobalt armored man, sarcastically.

"Hey, Tenn. Let's get you back to the base." I held out a hand.

"My papa told me not to talk to strangers." She whimpered.

"Well, she's your problem." Church laughed, "We're going to go grab everything that she left on the upper level."

I sighed, trying to figure out a way to identify what age she had turned into, "Listen. I'm a good guy. I'm going to give you a few words, and you need to tell me whether or not they sound familiar, okay?" She nodded, stepping out of the water, "Alaska."

"Like the state?" She giggled.

"No, a person."

"I don't know anyone by Alaska." Alright. This means she's under ten.

"Umm... Sister Teresa?"

"The new, mean lady at the orphanage who yells at me whenever I run down the halls." About seven years, since I remember she previously said that this 'Sister Teresa' first started working at the orphanage when she was seven. So, this is the age where she hasn't figured out that her mother abandoned her.

"I have nothing else..." We sat there for probably ten minutes until Church and Caboose came down. That's when I was given this leather bound book. The four of us headed back to the base, keeping an eye on Agent Tennessee, who was persistent about being called Jessie. I wonder if Zeta is just being quiet in that head they share. I was tempted to get Tennessee in her armor so that I could talk to her AI, but she'd just fight back, not understanding her strength. Doc came by later that day with this cure of his. Caboose held her down as I forced the liquid down her throat. I felt bad, but it should all be better in a week, right?


	15. Sunflowers

"Agent Tennessee?" Zeta talked to me, knowing I had just been awaken.

"Yeah?" I mumbled under my breath, moving one arm underneath my pillow.

"How old are you?"

"15. Why would you forget that?" I yawned.

"I just had to make sure." He laughed faintly in the back of my head.

"So, what do you want?"

"Obviously the codes for world domination." He said, sarcastically.

"I don't want to play that game." I whimpered as the want for further sleep took over me, "The last time we needed to hack a computer for intel, we almost got blown up. I lost my pinky toe from that."

"I was joking." He seemed concerned now, since I was usually able to identify his sarcasm.

"Rest in peace, pinky toe." I purred.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm tiiiiired." I whined, "Ask me again when I'm awake."

"Agent Tennessee, you are currently awake."

"I am?" I yawned, "Well, don't you want a gold medal."

"Perhaps you think you're dreaming."

"No, I believe I'm awake." I let out another yawn, "You haven't lied to me yet, so I'll believe you."

"Alright. Now that we know you're awake, may I ask you about your dream?" I sat their for a moment. Yes, Zeta has access to my thoughts because he was implanted to the neural pathway, but I didn't think he even bothered to pay attention to that.

"... I get nightmares often enough." I sat up, leaving my head close to my chest.

"That doesn't mean you can kill off the planet you were born on." I remembered the Earth colony of Amextry, a planet of the Kappa nebula. My dream consisted of the orphanage burning down first, and then the planet itself being slowly melted into a liquid state as it became a crimson red from the blood of its former inhabitants. A tear started to fall down my cheek, for I prefer my dreams to be suppressed after awakening, "I-I'm sorry. Have I aggravated you?"

"No, it's fine." I wiped my face, "It's only a dream, right? There's no way a planet of that size could easily be destroyed, right?"

"Actually..." His words trailed off as the sound of footsteps echoed from outside my door.

"Please just be quiet for a moment." I whispered.

"You know that they can't hear me, right? If they hear anything, they'll hear you, since you seem to think out loud more often then not." He went quiet for a minute, "And it's not like an enemy would be roaming around blue base."

"Blue base? Oh, yeah." I sighed. How could I so easily forget where I was. I guess it was the size and lighting of the room. Maybe that's why I thought I was still on the Mother of Invention. A knock came to the door. I jumped and curled up in the covers, making myself appear asleep. The door creaked open, then there was a sigh. The door was shut once again and darkness came back to the room.

* * *

"Hey Tenn?" Kaito spoke up, breaking the silence between us. We had been lying down on the upper most layer of blue base, watching the clouds drift across the sky. The weather was barely nice enough to survive without our armor, so the two of us had taken the chance.

"Yeah?" I answered his question.

"Do you remember that planet we had that one scavenger mission on?" He asked yet another question.

"Which scavenger mission are you talking about?"

"That one on that desolate planet. You know, where they all killed each other in war and we were sent to gather space equipment and any other necessities."

"Which one? The one by Amextry?"

"Yeah! What was the name of it?"

"Kaleu. It was the most economically successful planet of the Kappa nebula before it's civil war."

"Do you remember those sunflowers that made you really happy?"

"How many times do I have to tell you?" I let a quiet giggle escape my lips, "Those weren't sunflowers. They were lotuses."

"No they weren't." His voice was serious, "The petals were yellow and orange. A lotus has pinks or purples or white in that matter."

"It was surrounded by lily pads." My laugh grew louder, "And it was the same type of lotus that grows in all the other planets of the Kappa..." My voice got quieter, in remembrance of my dream, "nebula."

"Hey," He turned onto his side in order to face me, "you alright?"

"Never better." I muttered, watching a cloud that looked exactly like the outcome of a nuclear explosion... Oblivion. How I was afraid of the word, but now I wish that my mind would revert to it's unknowing state.

"Doesn't sound like it." He started to laugh, "Did you get into another fight with Zeta?" That's right. I've never talked about my personal life. I've never told him about the time before my abandonment when I actually had a family. I've never explained to him why I know more about the Kappa nebula versus the Alpha or Delta. I've never told him why exactly I was so glad on that mission to see that flower, "Do you want to talk about it?"

"I said I'm fine." I sat up, "I'm going to go get something to eat."

"Did you get into a fight with Zeta? You two are partners."

"Zeta and I are still close." I stood up and made my way into the base, "I'm just reminiscing in memories and the Alpha's hope and depression tries to calm me down."

* * *

**Sorry that this is so short. I've had the idea of this moment in my head and it took me forever to actually type it up.**


End file.
